


More Than What They Seem

by Kazumimi



Series: Sukone's Stories [2]
Category: UTAU, Vocaloid
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Drama, Everybody is pretty much a really good friend, F/M, Fairies, Family Fluff, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Kagamine Rin is a good friend, Kasane Teto is a good friend, Len and Piko are dorks, Len is a cinnomon roll, Magic, Rin is a little shit, Rin is a protective sister, Romance, Sukone Tei needs a hug, Tei is trying her best, Teiru is a good big brother, Twin Kagamines, Utatane Piko is a good friend, Wholesome, except for Mayu and Merli, they suck lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 27,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazumimi/pseuds/Kazumimi
Summary: Sukone Tei's finally got everything she's always wanted... almost. She's dating the boy of her dreams and has some good friends, but she's also facing pressures being thrust upon on her out of nowhere. Of course, it doesn't help she's earned the animosity of most Vocaloids. And, what happens when a new Vocaloid moves to town? Will this girl be a new friend, or is she a foe?----You'll want to read the first story in this "series" (More Than What She Seems) BEFORE you read this one.  This one is a direct sequel and reading the original will give you a better understanding of this one.Also available on Fanfiction.net!
Relationships: Kagamine Len/Sukone Tei, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Sukone's Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595266
Comments: 11
Kudos: 8





	1. Here She Goes Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! Kazumi here, back with a sequel to my previous story, More Than What She Seems! Before you read this, make sure you've read all of the original story first, because this will spoil many parts (including the ending!) of More Than What She Seems. If you've already read the original, well, thanks for reading it! I hope you enjoy this one!
> 
> Also, like in the original, Len and some other characters are aged up.

I sat down on the couch and next to my handsome prince, Len-kun. Okay, well he's not a real prince, but he's a prince to me and that's what counts!

I leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek, and he returned it by kissing me on the cheek, too. I blushed and scooted closer to him, leaning my head just enough so our heads would meet, then wrapped my arms around him. I liked being close to him because he made feel warm and fuzzy, especially when we hugged each other, hee hee.

We'd been dating a few months now, and I'd say we had developed a wonderful relationship with each other! We both seemed to always be on the same page and we almost never disagreed on anything. Also, he was adorable and romantic, and I'm a lover of all things sweet and romantic, so we were a great, no, perfect match!

"So, what kinda movie were we gonna watch, Tei?" Len asked.

"Hmm… I was thinking a horror movie, unless you're too chicken," I said, playfully taunting him.

Len looked at me with a mix of concern and surprise.

"What?!" He squeaked.

I laughed hysterically.

"Oh, I'm just kidding, Len-kun! I wouldn't put something like that on!" I said.

Though, to be honest, not everything has been sunshine and rainbows since Len and I started dating. There's a lot of people, mainly the Vocaloids, who think we shouldn't be together. But, I mean, it's not like I did anything to upset the Vocaloids or anything! Definitely not! Ehehehe.

There's also a lot of pressure being put on me to be perfect and other stupid crap like that. They all want me to be like Miku, but I'm not. I am nothing like her, and I never will be. But, you know what? I'm cool with that. Len-kun and all my friends like me for who I am, and that's what matters, or something…

Well, okay, to be fair to the Vocaloids, I _did_ declare war on them, but no one actually got hurt and it's not like it was a _real_ war. More like just me being petty over a misunderstanding, and, besides, how is a 19 year old supposed to declare all out war on people anyways? I don't know.

"How about a romcom?" Len suggested. "We both like romance and we both like comedy. Seems like a perfect compromise to me!"

I nodded in agreement. A romantic comedy is basically the best of both worlds!

But, of course, what's a date without a protective brother coming in to ruin things?

Teiru, walked in and cleared his throat.

"You all need to scoot further apart," he said sternly.

I puffed up my cheeks in annoyance and begrudgingly unwrapped my arms from around Len, scooting away from him slightly, while he looked at Teiru like a deer caught in headlights.

"S-sorry!" He said apologetically.

Len-kun was always so nice and respectful of my brother, but I don't know how he doesn't find my brother irritating. Ugh. Teiru is always interrupting mine and Len-kun's romantic moments together. Couldn't he just buzz off and mind his own business?

Teiru surveyed us and nodded his head.

"Mhm. Much better."

I tossed him a scowl and folded my arms, to which he just shook his head playfully in response and walked away.

"Anyways," Len said, attempting to get things back on the right track. "I have some pretty cool news!"

Len-kun had cool news? What could it be? Ooh! Was he releasing a new album? New merchandise? Did he want to marry me?! (Okay, probably not that last one. But, a girl can dream.)

"What is it, Len-kun?" I asked, interest piqued.

"Well, there's a new girl who's gonna be moving to Mirai Town and she's gonna be a new Vocaloid member!" Len said, excitedly. "She's a bit younger than you, but, hey, maybe you all might get along!"

A new Vocaloid? Well, this could either be a good thing, or a bad thing. The good thing is, she's never met me, and I have a chance to let her get to know me before the other Vocaloids can spread gossip to her about how horrible they think I am. The bad part is, the Vocaloids will still probably spread gossip to her about me.

But, maybe if I make a good first impression, we can become good friends and then she won't believe what she hears from the Vocaloids. Besides, Miku, Rin, and Len-kun like me, so I'm sure since they're such big influencers, they can tell her about all the nice things about me! Seems logical enough to me, but, even if it didn't; I've never been one to abide by logic! Haha!

"That sounds great, Len-kun! When is she arriving?" I asked, curiosity piqued.

"Well, I think she's arriving tomorrow…" he said.

I gasped in excitement. "Will you be going to meet her?! Can I come?!"

"Sure thing! Let's meet up here at 7 AM tomorrow and I'll take you there!" Len said.

"See you then, Len-kun!"

I kissed him on the cheek and turned on our favorite romcom movie. A socially awkward girl and socially awkward guy fall in love but don't realize the other likes them. Sounds quite familiar, actually… hmm…

Tomorrow was definitely a day I'd be looking forward to! A new girl was coming to town, and I was hoping I could show her the ropes just like Teto did for me. I'll even introduce her to some of my friends, like Teto and Rin! Of course, she'll be meeting Rin anyways given that she's a Vocaloid as well, but it still can't hurt to introduce them to each other ahead of time.

I'll introduce her to Len as well, but she better not even think about falling in love with him if she knows what's good for her! She'd just get her heart broken, and I'd have some things I'd like to say to her.


	2. A New Vocaloid

**.:Mayu's POV:.**

My name is Mayu. I'm brand new to Mirai Town, and needless to say, I'm quite nervous about the whole thing. I was asked by a large record label who heard my voice to join a group called "Vocaloid", and I'm in complete shock! I-I was going to be joining a group of people I've admired for so long? I was beside myself! But, was I really good enough to be one of them…?

Of course I like my singing voice, but the idea of being around many professionals who have been in this for far longer than me is quite terrifying. What if they don't like me? What if they don't like something I do? What if they're snooty and rude? What if they don't like my singing?

I held my stuffed rabbit, Usano Mimi, close to me as I pulled my legs close to me and sat on the seat of the train, feeling mildly terrified.

_Relax, Mayu. I'm sure they're normal, friendly people. Just like you or anyone else…_

I took in a few deep breaths in order to calm myself and felt a bit better.

There was just one thing I was hoping that no one would notice; the slightly nasal tone that I have. A lot of people dislike nasal tones in singing voices and I don't want to be ostracized because of the way my voice sounds.

Also, I genuinely hoped that the people here were more accepting of more unique styles, because I wear fancy Lolita dresses wherever I go. I love fashion, and fancy dresses are my favorite thing to wear; especially the gothic Lolita ones! My closet at home was filled with many different fashions! To me, fashion was a form of art and I'm its canvas.

In my hometown, people always thought I was weird or eccentric for constantly wearing Lolita dresses everywhere and never were willing to understand that I just have my own sense of style; that I don't have to dress like them. Oh, and how could I forget how they made fun of me for having rainbow streaks in my hair? It's certainly not my fault I was born with multicolored streaks in my hair; besides, I see kids all the time who dye their hair, so what's the big deal?

Hmph. Well, who needs them anyways? I certainly don't.

Perhaps the people here will be friendlier. Maybe I'll even meet a love interest! Hee hee hee. I'm only kidding. I'm not here to pursue love, although I am most definitely a romantic. Romance is just so sweet and I'd love to be with someone who is romantic like me. Alas, I haven't found the right person quite yet, but I know I will one day!

I was going to be living in the Vocaloid mansion with my cousin, Oliver. He's a bit younger than me, being fourteen years old (I'm seventeen). I was very happy for him when I found out he had been discovered after a member of the Vocaloid group had heard him at one of his choir performances. Admittedly, though, I was a bit envious, but still glad for him. We don't talk very much, but I do like to check in from time to time to see how he's doing.

He's always been the shy sort, so I was quite surprised when he was so eager to join the Vocaloids. But, I think it was an important step in the right direction for him. He was going to begin his singing career, and now… I'm going to take my first steps into starting my singing career!

Watch out Mirai Town! There's a new star, and her name is "Mayu"!

The train came to a sudden halt, throwing me up against the back of my seat.

"Oof!" I uttered, rubbing my sore back.

Well, that wasn't quite how I wanted to start my time here, but ah well.

"Mirai Town! All bound for Mirai Town please exit now!" The train's intercom called out.

I grabbed my bags and most importantly, Mimi, and fought my way through a sea of people to get out. I may appear dainty, but I'm actually very strong despite my appearance.

As I walked hurriedly down the stairs, I was greeted by a familiar looking boy, and a girl I had never seen before. Was she a new Vocaloid I hadn't heard about? I knew that the boy was Kagamine Len, but the girl was a total new face.

"Hi there!" Len said. "I'm Kagamine Len, and this is Sukone Tei." He gestured to the girl standing next to him.

"Nice to meet you," she said, coolly.

"You as well," I said.

I took a moment to get a good look at them. Kagamine-san wore a baggy sailor-fuku style shirt with baggy shorts. He wore a yellow tie and his hair was done up in a spiky sort-of way; it was much fluffier than I'd have expected because I would have thought he'd have to use a lot of gel to get it to look like that.

Then I took a moment to look at Sukone-san. She had beautiful, long, flowing hair in addition to fair, flawless skin and striking red-eyes. Though, she had a very eccentric manner of dress.

Her sleeves were much too long for her, and seemed quite impractical seeing as they cover her hands completely, folding over them awkwardly. She also wore a short sailor-fuku style top as well, though it was much different from Kagamine-san's. Hers was split up the middle and she looked to be wearing a red, sleeveless turtleneck of some type underneath it. She also wore a short red skirt with black stripes and lace, as well as a pair of tall boots to match. She had quite the dainty looking physique.

I'll bet she's his girlfriend and she's some air-headed model or the token pretty girl with no brain. Part of me, however, felt a little threatened by her. Probably because I assume everyone loves her; that's how it works with these "pretty girl" types. She did give off slightly sinister vibes, though; possibly due to her narrower eye shape.

"So, what's your name?" She asked, snapping me out of my thought.

"O-oh! It's Mayu," I said, forcing a smile.

"Mayu, huh?" Sukone-san said, suddenly eyeing me suspiciously.

I tensed up at her gaze. Clearly, I was wrong to dismiss her as the spacey sort, because something was now telling me that she was not one to be trifled with.

"Well, that's a lovely name. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mayu-san," she said, firmly shaking my hand.

"Oh, thank you!" I said, feeling unsure of whether or not I should take the compliment.

"Uh, hey, why don't we get going to the Vocaloid mansion so Mayu can see where she lives?" Len suggested, probably taking notice of the tension.

* * *

The whole walk to the mansion felt a bit tense. I couldn't help but to feel like Sukone-san didn't like me, or maybe I was just uncomfortable with the amount of questions she was asking me and that she's been so friendly even though she was eyeing me suspiciously a moment ago.

"So, Mayu-san," she said. "You seem fashionable. Were you ever a model by any chance?"

"Well, no. Although there are people who think I'm pretty, a lot of people seem to be turned off by my so called 'eccentric' manner of dress. Hmph."

"Oh, is that so? I don't think your look is eccentric; I think it's very stylish! I guess they just don't know good fashion when they see it, am I right?" She tossed me a playful look and chuckled good naturdly.

I was really surprised at the genuine compliment, and quite flattered, might I add. It's been a while since someone said about my looks besides "oh, it's so… eccentric…".

"Yeah! And, the stuffed bunny is pretty cute, too! I like how it matches your look," Len added, earning him what seemed to be a jealous look from Sukone-san.

Though, I can't blame her. If a boy I liked complimented another girl, I'd probably be quite jealous. I may even have to chase said girl away… oh, dear. I certainly hope she doesn't do that to me; I just arrived here, and it'd be a shame if I had to leave because of a jealous nutcase.

I know, I must be _such a hypocrite_. But, I'm not flawless, and I never did I say I wasn't a hypocrite, now did I? I'll be as hypocritical as I'd like, thank you very much.

"So… Sukone-san… is Len your boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yes! Len-kun's SO amazing, and I love him, and—"

Sukone-san probably rambled on the whole walk to the mansion, and Len blushed embarrassedly at the sheer amount of uncritical praise she gave him. It was like she couldn't find a single flaw about him, and she could just go ON and ON. No, really, does this girl have an _off_ switch? Good grief. She's quite irritating once she gets to running her trap about her oh-so-amazing "Len-kun".

"Enough about Len. Tell me about yourself," I said, attempting to finally steer the conversation in a less annoying direction.

"Well, I'm 19 and I'm a student at Waseda University. I'm a self-taught engineer, but I'm going to school to get my degree and license. I sing and I'm part of the Vippaloid group of UTAU," Sukone-san said.

Vippaloid… I believe I'd heard that name somewhere before. If I recall correctly, they were almost like a band of misfits; they're former trolls and posers who formed a group together to be hired out to create legitimate songs.

"Are you by any chance acquaintances with Kasane Teto?" I asked her.

"Oh, yes! Teto's my best friend, and she's the one who invited me to join Vippaloid! She's like a little sister to me…" she said.

* * *

"And we're here!" Len announced.

In front of me was huge mansion; one much bigger than I ever imagined. In front of it stood someone I never thought I'd have the chance to meet in real life: Hatsune Miku. Like, as in _the_ Hatsune Miku; the super-famous singer. I couldn't believe it! And that must mean that all the other famous Vocaloids must be here! Ones like Rin or Gumi!

"Hi! I'm Miku, and you must be Mayu-san! It's super nice to meet you!" She said. "My friends are waiting for you inside! Please come in!"

She ushered us into a room where several other Vocaloids were standing.

The one with the white bow was the first to speak.

"Hiya! I'm Rin! Your local edgelord, prankster, and a totally not suspicious salesperson." She dug into her shorts pocket and pulled out some questionable looking makeup. "Wanna buy this makeup?"

"Erm, no thank you…" I said, trying to politely refuse.

She already gave away that her product was suspicious by saying she was "totally not suspicious", so I was going to pass on that offer… also, she caused Sukone-san to burst into laughter, although Sukone-san sounded a bit maniacal, I might add. She's a strange one…

"Rin! I thought we already discussed that you can't go around scamming Mayu-san!" Len exclaimed.

Rin just walked over to him, placed her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "Sweet, innocent, naïve Len. When will you learn you can't stop me from making mischief?"

Len looked at her and playfully shook his head. It seemed this was something they did quite often.

"Hello, Mayu. My name is Luka. It's such a pleasure to meet you!" An elegant looking lady with long pink hair said, stepping forward.

"And you as well," I said.

I think I could settle in here quite quickly. The Vocaloids I've met so far seem very friendly, and I'd be looking forward to getting to know them better. As for Sukone-san, though, I'm not quite sure what I think of her…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that chapter and I hope it didn't end too abruptly. This was originally going to be the first chapter, but I struggled with writing it and made it the second chapter instead because I thought it'd be better to open with Tei and Len. Mayu's been hard to characterize because it's hard to keep the yandere aspects while also trying to make her unique and not a carbon copy of Tei. Wish me well in developing Mayu's character!


	3. Suspicions Arise

Chapter 3: Suspicions Arise

* * *

**.:Tei's POV:.**

I don't know what it was about Mayu, but something about her rubbed me the wrong way. It just felt like something was off about her… and, no, it's not just because Len-kun complimented her, I swear! I'm more mature than that!

I don't know… maybe I wasn't giving her a fair chance. I mean, she sure seemed _nice_ enough. But, I think I can tell a nice facade apart from a person who's actually nice, most likely because I have a nice facade myself. I can be downright bitter and nasty if I want to, hehe.

I guess I really had no choice but to get know her better, like I had to with Miku. Of course, that ultimately blew up in my face because I thought she was trying to steal Len from me and that she and him were in love with each other. But, hey! Second time's the charm, right? I can redeem myself!

Maybe I'll prove that I am a nice person, because currently most of the Vocaloids don't seem to think I am, and now all of Mirai Town seems to think that I'm the yandere that I set out to prove that I wasn't. Ugh. Nice going, Tei.

Actually, you know what… I should be giving Mayu a fair chance… after all, that's all I've wanted people to do for me… maybe we'll have something in common with each other!

* * *

I decided I'd make my way to the Vocaloid mansion and ask if Mayu was there. I'd be inviting her to go hang out at Ai no Cafe with me for just a casual get-together type of thing. Admittedly, I'm not particularly good at arranging these kinds of things, but it was worth a shot, especially if it meant making a good impression on her.

Though, I'm sure the other Vocaloids have already done a _wonderful_ job telling her about how nasty and awful I am, even though they hardly know me. Whatever. I can live with their whining.

I'll bet she's probably gonna ask if I actually did declare "war" on all the Vocaloids, and, of course, I can't lie because that'll only come back to bite me in the rear end later, so I'll have to explain the entire dumbass misunderstanding and… good grief. I guess I really do jump to conclusions and make stupid and rash decisions over misunderstanding regarding my crush. Wow.

I heaved an annoyed sigh before knocking on the door to the Vocaloid mansion.

 _Please be Miku, please be Miku, please be Miku…_ I silently begged.

Not a moment later did the door open, revealing a red-headed lady standing in the doorway.

"Oh, it's you…" she said, sounding absolutely _thrilled_ to see me.

"Yeah. Nice to see you, too," I retorted.

"What business do you think you have here, anyways?" She remarked.

"Mind you, Miki, I have just as much of a right to be here as you, so may I please have a word with Mayu?" I said.

Miki opened her mouth as if to protest, but quickly found herself cut off by Miku, who was headed in my direction.

"Tei, it's so good to see you! What brings you here?" Miku asked, earning her a concerned and also irritated look from Miki, who simply walked off from us.

"Hi, Miku. I was here to see Mayu. Is she here?" I said.

"Oh, yeah! I'll go get her for you!"

And not a moment later did Miku return with Mayu in tow, who was spouting some kind of protest.

"Miku, I really appreciate you letting me know I have a visitor, but I really should be practicing my singing and—"

She stopped as soon as she noticed me.

"Oh! Sukone-san! How kind of you to visit. Erm, what did you need?" She asked.

"I just wanted to see if you'd be interested in hanging out and getting to know each other a bit. And, since you're new, I figured I could show you the ropes, too," I said.

"I suppose I could spare a spot of time from my singing practice… what did you have in mind?" She asked.

"Well, I'd like to treat you to lunch at the very least," I said.

I thought that was a pretty good offer and excuse to get to know someone. I mean, who in their right mind would turn down free food, am I right? I sure wouldn't.

"May I ask where?" She said.

"I'd like to take you to Ai no Cafe; it's a cute little cafe not far from here," I said.

"Oh, why that sounds lovely! I'll come," Mayu said.

* * *

After Mayu ran back inside to grab her stuff (which really just consisted of a parasol, a small drawstring bag, and, for some reason, a stuffed rabbit), we headed to the Cafe.

So far, on the whole walk to Cafe, she seemed rather pleasant and friendly, which kind of debunks my suspicions of her, but I'm not letting my guard down yet. Sometimes people seem nice at first and are just that, and other times they turn out to be total backstabbers. I might seem crazy (or insane; depends on who you ask) to some, but in all actuality I'm sharp as a tack. (Though, tacks really aren't that sharp, just pointy; but you still don't wanna step on one.)

Although, I forgot about one insignificant little detail. I completely forgot that Ruko works there… ugh. She and I don't get along very well, but that's _her_ fault. She's the one who name-called me when she could've just minded her own business when I was breaking up with Len's ex girlfriend for him. She called me a damn "yandere" which is highly offensive because I have no criminal record and don't intend to obtain one nor am I insane or crazy. Ask anyone. (Well, except for Ruko and the Vocaloids…)

Ah, whatever. I'm sure she doesn't work today, and I'm ninety-percent sure that she'd just avoid me anyways, so who cares?

* * *

Upon walking into the Cafe, I saw Ruko's stupid face looking at me from behind the counter, who then walked up us.

"Ugh. Not you…" she sighed.

"Pardon me, Yokune-san, but is that _any_ way to speak to a customer?" I remarked snidely.

I know I really shouldn't be passive aggressive, but, hey, I don't go looking for trouble; trouble looks for me! Heck, I am trouble! Haha.

She shot me a scowl and then gestured to a window seat.

"Right this way, please," she said begrudgingly.

Mayu and I took a seat in the booth, placed our orders, and then no sooner, of course, did she ask me what's the beef between me and Ruko.

"Well, uh…"

I was at a loss for words because I couldn't figure out a way to describe the situation concisely without making myself look the bad guy.

"Basically Ruko called me a yandere after I broke up with Len-kun's girlfriend for him, which, he asked me to do after I offered to break up with her for him. She seems to think I'm a psycho or something, I guess," I said.

Mayu quietly sipped on her tea, leaving me to wonder if she was going to reply or say anything.

"You know…" she said calmly. "Even if you did chase her off out of spite, I certainly couldn't blame you. If I was in love with a boy as cute as Len, I wouldn't hesitate to chase off any girl he so much as shows an interest in. Hm hm hm."

I was genuinely surprised. Mayu seemed like such a calm and composed person; she definitely didn't strike me as the jealous or petty type (not that I'm implying I'm jealous or petty; I'm so obviously not). But, it made me kind of happy she understood.

"So, follow up question, did you actually declare war on all Vocaloids like they've been telling me? You surely don't seem like an awful person," she said.

And there it was. The question I knew she'd ask, but was hoping she wouldn't ask. Lovely. Now I have to explain.

"Yes, I did…" I sighed.

"Hmm. Well, why did you do it?"

"Well, I… I'm not sure. I guess I was just… jealous? I dunno. I overreacted because I thought that my friend betrayed me and that she and Len were in love with each other…"

I glanced away shamefully. What I'd done was so stupid… what kind of normal person just declares war on a group of people because of a misunderstanding?

"Maybe I _am_ as crazy as everyone thinks I am…" I sighed absentmindedly.

"Well, it wasn't a real war, and no one got hurt. So I'd say you're fine in my book."

Mayu tossed me a supportive smile.

She then reached into her bag and pulled out her phone to check the time, I assume.

"Oh, well, would you look at the time? I simply must be going, but it was lovely to talk to you. You're quite the interesting one, aren't you, Tei?" She said.

I scratched the back of my head, puzzled by Mayu's remark about me being "interesting". Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"Uh, thanks…?" I said, quite puzzled.

"Well, ta-ta for now, darling!" Mayu said, waving goodbye and walking out the door.

I just shrugged it off, assuming that she wasn't being insulting, then left the cafe as well after paying.

Now that getting to know Mayu was out of the way, now I had time to focus on the project I'd been working on for mine and Len-kun's three-month anniversary that was coming up in…

I pulled out my phone to check the date. Surely there was still a good amount of time before our anniversary… and then I saw the date…

"Our anniversary's tomorrow?!" I exclaimed.

I still had to finish my anniversary gift to Len-kun! Oh boy… I was in the process of making him a cute little plush doll as a gift, but I'd gotten sidetracked. Guess it's time to get down to business!

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for missing an update last week! I had a busier week than usual and didn't get to update like I wanted to! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for missing an update last week! I had a busier week than usual and didn't get to update like I wanted to! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. TeiLen's Anniversary

Len-kun and I had agreed to meet up at the train station on one of the streets near Ai no Cafe because he said he has a surprise for me, which of course, piqued my interest. I didn't want to get _too_ excited, but I was really hoping that he'd propose to me. I mean, we get along so well and our relationship with each other is so great, why wouldn't we go ahead and get engaged at the very least?

I know, I know. Why don't I just ask him to marry me myself? Well, that's because 99% of me is sure he would want to marry me, but there's still the 1% of me that's got cold feet and is afraid he'll say "no". Unfortunately, that 1% seems to be much louder than the other 99%…

As I got off the train to meet him at the station, he greeted me with his usual wave and goofy grin.

"Hi, Tei! I can't wait for you to see the surprise I've got in store for you!" He said, beaming excitedly.

"I'm really excited, too, Len-kun! But first, let me give you my surprise!"

I rummaged through my bag and picked out the plushie version of myself I'd spent all night sewing and handed it to him.

"This is so cute!" he exclaimed, holding it up in front of his face joyfully. "I love it! Thank you so much, Tei!

I giggled at his cute little display of excitement.

"I figured since you were nice enough to give me that limited edition plush of you a while back to add to my collection of my other merchandise of you, I should give something to you in return! I thought it'd be cute if we had matching plushes of each other!" I said.

Len just beamed gleefully in response, and it made me so happy to see him happy!

"Now, for my surprise!" Len said. "Close your eyes and take my hand! But no peeking. I don't wanna spoil the surprise."

"Okay!" I exclaimed, immediately closing my eyes and the fumbling around the air, searching for his hand. (Probably should have taken his hand first, but whatever.)

After I took his hand, we walked, and walked, then walked some more. Geez. Things were taking a while. What? Were we walking to somewhere a mile away?

"So, can I guess what the surprise is?" I asked.

"You can, but I'm not gonna tell you if you're right!" He laughed.

I wracked my brain for what it could possibly be… what seemed logical in this case?

"Are we going to a fancy restaurant?"

"Nope. Try again."

"Uh… what about a restaurant that's not fancy?"

"Guess again!"

"Are we getting married?!" I exclaimed without thinking.

"What?" Len said, confused.

"Uh, nothing. Never mind!" I said sheepishly.

Len looked at me quizzically, then shrugged and went back to walking.

 _Crisis averted,_ I thought, feeling relieved. _Nice going, Tei. You shouldn't just ask him randomly if you're getting married to each other. Who fricking does that?_

Then suddenly, Len stopped. "Now open your eyes," he said.

I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was… a building? Um, okay? Surely it served some kind of significance. After all, Len-kun can be a little unpredictable sometimes, though his antics usually tie into something somehow.

He was beaming with pride, although I couldn't figure out why. What's so significant about the building?

"I bought you this! I know you like baking cakes, and I remembered that you said you'd like to open a bakery. Well… that's what this is!" He said. "I got together with some acquaintances of mine to get it ready in time for our anniversary! We've already gotten the necessary permits and supplies for you, too! Surprise!"

I was instantly overcome with emotions. I was so happy, but I felt like I could burst into tears! In fact, I couldn't stop myself from breaking into tears right then and there!

"Th-thank you, Len-kun!" I sniffled. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me!"

I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around him. I really couldn't be thankful enough to have a boyfriend as caring, sweet, and adorable as Len-kun!

"H-hey now! Don't cry 'cause you'll make me wanna c-cry, too!"

And not a moment later did he break into tears, too.

"I'd do anything for you, Tei! I wanted to get you something for engineering kind of stuff, but I found out that you have to be licensed or something and you're still studying engineering, so I just went with the next best thing!"

"It's perfect, Len-kun," I muttered sweetly.

Len in turn embraced me and kissed me on the forehead, causing me to start blushing profusely.

"And, if that's cool with you, I thought maybe I could work here part-time? Or at least help out," he said.

"That'd be fun! We could have our other friends like Teto or Rin—"

"No! Not Rin!" Len interjected.

I was taken aback at his sudden protest against Rin. Though, if it's that he wants some time away from Rin, I can understand that. Just 'cause you're siblings doesn't mean you want to be around each other 24/7. I mean, being around Teiru is enough to drive me crazy sometimes.

"Sorry. That sounded harsh. But the last time anyone let her use a stove or an oven, she nearly blew up the kitchen. So maybe have her do something that doesn't involve appliances," he explained.

"Uh, alright. She could work as a cashier or something, or she can ice the cakes. We'll get it all worked out," I said. "Then Teto can help me bake, and also, if it's not too much trouble, maybe you all could help out when I'm away from the store."

"Yeah! Sounds like fun!" Len said.

"Perfect! This is gonna be so fun!" I exclaimed.

Len handed me the key to the store and I went to the door to unlock it. On my way in, though, I could have sworn I had seen Mayu lurking around a nearby street corner… huh. I guess she can do what she wants, but what a strange coincidence that she just so happens to be here…

I had a sinking feeling that this could go somewhere bigger, but decided to brush it aside for now. Surely I was just jumping to conclusions and she wasn't up to no good. I had something more important to take care of.

Everything inside the soon-to-be bakery looked nearly perfect! The walls were my favorite shade of pink and everything just looked so me! (Well, the more lovey-dovey side of me anyways, ehehe.)

It looked like Len-kun and everyone had done a wonderful job getting the place ready. It seemed all I needed to do was put out some decorations. There were already tables, chairs, and glass display cases. Now I just needed to see if there were appliances, otherwise I'd have to work out renting or buying some.

I checked the kitchen area for appliances, and just as I expected, Len-kun and everyone had already gotten everything organized.

Man, could a girl really get better friends? Makes me feel like I should do something bigger in return, but what do you do for people who can pretty much get anything they want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look who didn't forget to upload this week! This was a really cute and fun chapter to write. I just love writing these two dorks because they're just so aDORKable (sorry not sorry).


	5. Trouble's A-brewin'

**.:Mayu's POV:.**

I tensed up a little as I watched those two lovebirds with each other. For some reason, seeing those two together gave me an intense burning feeling in my chest. I don't know why. I don't even think I like Len in a romantic way, but then why do I feel jealous?

Maybe it's because they're so in love with each other and it's just rather gross? Mm. Not necessarily. I think something about Tei is irritating. What's so great about her that this dull boy would buy her an entire store? I mean, she so lovey-dovey it's obnoxious.

How does someone irritating like her find romance? Hmph. I refuse to believe that she's not stupid and naïve and is being used as a pawn by him. Surely this is some publicity stunt for him and he's not actually in love with her. Who falls in love with some psycho who declared war on Vocaloids over a misunderstanding? I mean, really.

I just—

"You there, girl!" A booming voice said, cutting me from my voice.

I whipped around, looking for the source of the voice, realizing that I had inadvertently put myself in a compromised position by lurking in a nearby alleyway.

I was ready to fight, if need be. My fight or flight instincts were pumping, and although all instincts told me to run, the fight instincts seemed to shout much louder.

"Who goes there?!" I snarled. "Show yourself!"

All, the sudden, out of complete thin air, a girl with luxurious purple hair literally poofed into appearance. Was she magic? I suppose so, but I didn't realize anyone around here was a magic wielder, although I've heard rumors of there being such.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Merli, sister of the quite annoying Aoki Lapis. Pleasure to meet you," she said.

I looked at her confusedly.

Okay. She had a name and a sister, but that doesn't explain anything!

"Would you care to give me a better explanation? Or are you just going to keep wasting my time?" I said, tapping my foot and pursing my lips in a display of impatience.

I don't have time to dilly-dally, or frolic around obnoxiously with some boy, or listen to some weird girl who appeared out of NOWHERE.

"I'm a fairy, outcasted for my dark magic," she explained. "I can help you out. What do you say we have some fun with those lovesick idiots?"

I smirked and looked her in the eyes.

"You know what, Merli? That sounds quite fun," I said. "My name's Mayu, by the way. A pleasure."

"No, no. The pleasure is all mine," she said.

"So, what exactly can your powers do?" I asked.

"Well, I can drain people's energy through singing and it makes them very exhausted, which isn't particularly interesting. I can also amplify feelings of jealousy and similar feelings, causing people to make poor choices," she explained. "Then there's even more basic stuff like using magic to mess with people and play pranks. Dark magic can be used for harmless, innocent stuff, too. They just say it's 'dark' to scare fairies."

"Well, Merli, what do you say we two outcasts join together and cause some trouble?"

"Sounds like fun! What do you want to do first?"

"How about… hm. We bombard her with annoying paparazzi or the like?" I said. "Hm. I don't really know. If only I knew things that irritate her…"

"Well, I've seen her around, and it seems pretty much anything irritates her. So, let's try the whole paparazzi thing," Merli replied.

She looked around and spotted a group of people, then worked her magic and sent them racing over to go and bother Tei.

* * *

**.:Tei's POV:.**

I was minding my own business just walking home and suddenly I was bombarded by a crowd of people. Ugh. Why me? I hate forced socialization and I'm not exactly a huge people person. I mean, yeah, I like having and making new friends as much as the next girl, but I still don't like socializing a whole lot. I'm the queen of unsociability.

"So, how does it feel to be Len's girlfriend?"

"Uh, good…?"

"You're so pretty! Who does your hair? What skin products do you use?"

"Uh, me. And I don't use any skin products…"

"They should make you a model! With your albino looks, you'd make beauty seem nearly unobtainable!"

I blushed embarrassedly and lowered my head to avoid any kind of eye contact. That was one backhanded compliment that really hit home. It's weird to go through your whole life being looked at funny because you're albino, but then everyone's interested in you years later because you're suddenly a person of interest; the girlfriend of the boy singer everyone wants to date.

I've always felt insecure about my appearance, and the last thing I'd want to do is make anyone else feel the way about themselves as I do myself. I don't really like it when people call attention to the fact that I look different than everyone else; it makes me feel awkward. I kinda just prefer to blend in, and not stick out like the sore thumb I know I look like.

"Well, I don't think you should be trying to make beauty unobtainable, after all, isn't everyone beautiful in their own ways? And I'm not special because I'm albino, and you'd be best not to call attention to it again, or things will be very bad for you."

I can only maintain a friendly disposition for so long before it breaks, and it did just now. Mean Tei was back and here to stay. I wish I could just—I dunno… not be mean? It gets in the way. I'm mean, and easily jealous, and I guess I'll just stay that way.

But, they deserved it, right? Ugh. I just hope this doesn't reflect badly on Len-kun since we're dating.

"But you've got such a doll-like face and physique. Everything about you is so perfect!"

Perfect? Me? No, I really didn't think so. Besides, they're only referring to the outside. Those losers didn't care about personality, but why did their comments hit so close to home?

I blushed even more profusely and was suddenly at a loss for any kind of words besides "shut up" and some other not so nice words.

I turned away sharply and shoved my way through the obnoxious crowd of people. I was done with this crap. I was just trying to have a nice anniversary date, only to find myself bombarded by people who can't mind their own business.

Coincidentally, and much to my relief, I ended up bumping into Len-kun.

"Hey, Tei! I saw what happened back there. Are… are you okay?"

I just wrapped my arms around him and buried my head in his chest, not knowing what to say. I was completely stressed and just needed a moment to calm down. It was all just way too much for me at once.

I heaved a heavy sigh in an effort to decompress.

"Yeah. I will be," I muttered.

I gazed up at him with watery eyes and asked him a very important question.

"Len-kun, am I good enough for you?"

Len looked at me with eyes full of surprise and concern.

"' _Good enough_ '?" He echoed in surprise. "Tei, I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend and friend than you. We love each other, and that's what matters most. For the record, you're a great person inside and out."

He kissed me gently on the forehead and gazed into my eyes with a soft, caring look. Somehow, he never fails to make me feel better when I'm feeling down.

"Strange, though. I've never seen anyone in Mirai Town be that interested in anyone. Heck. I don't even get fangirls like I used to before I moved here, and trust me, Tei, they came in hordes." He seemed to shudder at the memory.

"Yeah…" I muttered in agreement. "Now that you mention it, it _did_ seem weird that they were all interested in me all of a sudden. Especially considering how easily I slip under the radar…"

I simply shrugged it off, knowing it was probably a fluke. Still though, the damage had been done, reminding me exactly why I was never a very sociable person. Ugh. 

Whatever, though. I had other things to do and worry about it. For now I needed to focus my attention on opening up the bake shop and also, my upcoming babysitting job this evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Merli was quite interesting to write because I wasn't very interested in her before, but thought she'd make an interesting character in this story. It's kinda fun to write characters that aren't your favorites!


	6. Rising Concerns

**.:Len's POV:.**

After running into Tei and seeing what she dealt with back there, I was kinda concerned. I know Tei has her fair share of insecurities (I do, too, but shh), but seeing her break down like that when she usually handles it in a much different "I'm-tough-as-nails-now-shut-up-and-don't-talk-to-me" way was kinda odd. Then she wants to ask if _she's_ good enough for me? Is she kidding? Sometimes I feel like I may not be good enough for her!

Phew. Dating someone is a lot different than being friends and wishing you could date that someone.

It was still really weird, though, that she got interrupted by such a large group of people asking her questions. Not even I get the kind of attention and I'm great—er, well, that's besides the point. (Not saying Tei's not great; she's the best and I love her!)

I just hope she wasn't bothered too much. I know she's actually sweet and sensitive under that tough as nails exterior, and I wouldn't want her to be hurt by some offhand comments from some losers like that. (Well, "losers" might be a strong word, but the point is still there.)

But, I'm not gonna let people make Tei feel bad about herself. No matter what anyone else thinks, I know she's a really great person and I just need to find a way to show everyone the side of Tei that I see. But, how do I do that?

I'm a master at coming up with ideas, but putting them into action, uh… not so much? Heheh.

_Maybe I should talk to her brother and get his opinion? I'll fill him in on what happened, even though Tei's probably told him already…_

I decided that I'd head to Tei's house and go talk to Teiru. Tei'll probably be there and will be surprised I randomly stopped by, but I'm sure it'll make her happy. She's the kind of girl I'd do anything for, and her happiness is really important to me.

But, man. We just started dating and we're both already dealing with drama because we're dating. Everyone's still salty because of what Tei did, which I mean, to be fair, was pretty bad… but! She already apologized and she's trying to make up for it, and I know she's trying to be a better person.

Of course, no one's making it easy for her. But, I still think it's weird that all those people were suddenly so interested her. I've never seen anybody that interested in anyone around here… something's just not right…

* * *

I knocked on the door to Tei's house and waited patiently for an answer.

Luckily for me, the answer was quick and I was met with Tei's brother standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Len. Nice to see you. I hate to break it to you, but Tei's out babysitting right now," he said.

"Uh, actually, I was hoping to talk to you," I said, adjusting my tie nervously.

Being around Tei's brother makes me kinda nervous because I'm afraid I'll mess up and he won't let me date Tei or something. I know I'm way overthinking things, but still! I love Tei, and I wouldn't want to accidentally do something that could jeopardize our relationship. Not that I'm trying to undermine her brother being protective of her or anything.

I think it's nice to have a sibling who's always looking out for you, probably because Rin's always got my back and I always have her's! When Rin and I team up, you'd better prepare for trouble, and make it double!

"Well, please come in and take a seat," he said, gesturing to the inside of the house.

I nodded and made sure to remove my shoes at the door before walking in and sitting on the couch.

"So, what did you want to speak to me about?" He asked, sitting next to me and then setting two cups of tea on the table.

"I made some tea, and you're welcome to have some, if you'd like."

"Thanks!" I said, picking up the teacup carefully to make sure I don't spill it.

"So, um, I dunno if Tei already told you, but she had a run in—"

"A run in? With who? Did anyone get hurt? What happened?" Teiru said apprehensively, cutting me off mid-sentence.

"Uh, I-I dunno. I only saw the tail end of it, but Tei was suddenly uh, what's the word? Bombarded, I guess? By a bunch of people asking her questions, and it seemed to make her uncomfortable, and I think someone mentioned something about her being albino or something like that?" I said in an incoherent mess.

Teiru heaved an elongated sigh, and I looked away, sighing as well.

"I just wish I could've done something, but I didn't know what was going on, and when I finally figured it out, the damage was already done…"

Some boyfriend I was. I didn't even think about the pressures she'd face as my girlfriend or the crap that she'd have to put up with; all I thought about was that I love her and that she's the kinda person I'd want to be in a relationship with. Ugh. What have I done?

"I'm sorry. I didn't even think about the fact that she'd suddenly get a lot of attention because she's my girlfriend, and I dunno…" I sighed.

Teiru put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's not your fault. People will be people, and you two shouldn't have to not be in a relationship with each other just because of some bad apples. I actually think you're a good fit for her. You're a kind, polite young man, and she needs to be around good people like you," he said, smiling a little.

"Also, after she ran into those people, or I guess, after they ran into her, she immediately ran up to me as soon as she saw me and she looked really upset and stressed out," I added.

Teiru pursed his lips in thought.

"You say they brought up her albino appearance, right?" He asked.

I nodded my head "yes".

"That explains a lot. She really hates it when people point out that she looks different compared to everyone else; being albino like she is has always been one of her biggest insecurities, and she used to get teased a lot about it," Teiru explained.

I thought it was really weird that anyone would tease or pick on Tei for being albino, but then again, people can just be jerks sometimes, man. Like, so what? She looks different. Doesn't make her any less of a wonderful person, and I for one think Tei is stunning. I mean, she looks like an angel and has the voice of one, too! Not that I really care all about looks in the first place, but Tei's an angel inside and out, no matter what anyone else thinks.

I tried my best to think of anything else that I should bring up to Teiru, and then it hit me.

"Oh, yeah! I should also tell you that after her encounter, when she came over to me, she asked me if I thought she was good enough for me and—" I choked a little bit. The idea of Tei feeling like she's not good enough for me, I dunno. It just made me sad, because she shouldn't be feeling this way… "She shouldn't have to worry about whether or not she's good enough for me."

"I know. And I agree with you. I've never understood why she worries about whether she's good enough for someone or not, but I'm not sure there's a reason she feels that way. If I know my sister, though, I know it's probably just because she's a little insecure about herself, but I know with her being surrounded by good people like you and her other friends, I know she'll forget all about her insecurities and move on from them," Teiru said, tossing me a smile.

He paused for a moment like he was thinking and then continued speaking.

"Though you all are adorable together, you were both very naïve to expect that you'd never have any issues with your relationship. It gets more complicated considering you two are very much people of interest currently. Tei's a new singer on the rise, and you're one of the most popular male singers right now," Teiru said. "Just stay true to what you two know is right and continue to love and support each other the same way you have. Things will work themselves out."

I nodded in appreciation. He was right. Tei and I should just carry on the way we have. We love each other, and that's what matters most!


	7. A Royal Pain in the Neck

I was looking forward to this evening because I had a babysitting job, which I actually enjoy a lot. It's kinda fun to be the responsible one, I guess. And, all of the kids I've babysat so far have been very well behaved, and any issues I encountered were easily resolved. So how hard could this one be?

After being greeted by the kid (Gachapoid Ryuto, which is weird name, but, hey it's not my place to judge) and his parents, I walked inside and got everything ready. I made sure to have all necessities and babysitting essentials on me, so I was ready to go.

"Alright! Who's ready to have fun?!" I said enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Let's play a game!" Ryuto said.

"Okay. What do you wanna play?" I asked.

"I dunno. You figure it out, lady," he said.

I was taken aback by the sudden change in this kid's tone. Surely it didn't come out the way I heard it, right? Wrong.

"And while you're at it, get me a snack or something. I'm hungry," he demanded.

Okay. Clearly this kid had some attitude problems and was going to be a major test of my patience… aka me trying not to pull out my hair while I figure out what to do with this demon spawn of a child.

_Patience, Tei. Getting mad and wanting to pull your hair out isn't gonna fix the problem. Maybe he's having a bad day and I should try showing him the same kindness and patience I'd want someone to show me if I was having a bad day…_

Inhaling a deep breath to regain my composure and calm myself, I mentally prepped myself knowing that this was going to be a difficult task and reminded myself that I've got this.

"What's the magic word?" I said, trying to appeal to that childish mindset.

I see parents and other caretakers do this all the time, so it's gotta work, right?

"Uh… abracadabra?" He replied, sounding unsure.

I shook my head playfully in response. "Nope. Try again!"

Gacha just stared at me dumbfounded for a moment before his face brightened up as if he had just discovered all the secrets of the universe.

"OH! Oh! I know! Is it… is it 'please'?" He said.

"That's it! Now, do you think there's a better way to say that sentence you just said a moment ago?" I asked.

He looked at me lost in thought before he spoke up again.

"Can you please get me a snack?" He asked much more politely.

"Yeah, sure. What do you want?"

"Can I have a… boneless pizza?"

I was confused by his request. Who the heck asks for a boneless pizza? Is he trying to recite that one meme, or something? Or did he actually want a pizza with no bones, 'cause, uh, last time I checked pizza doesn't have bones in it. If it does then someone is obviously doing something wrong.

"Uh, sure…? We'll just have to ask your parents, okay?"

"Okay!"

I gave his mom a call to get permission, and just as I would have expected, she said that pizza is fine but he can only have a couple slices and, to my surprise, also mentioned that I'm welcome to have some if I'd like because the place they usually get it from has more than enough for two. I really appreciated the consideration; it made me feel good.

So, I called up the pizza place and ordered it delivery because honestly? I don't feel like driving, I mean I literally just got here not too long ago, and, when you're driving with a little kid in the backseat there's a variety of different things that could go wrong. Screaming, crying, fit throwing, and other overall annoying crap to name a few things. Oh, and don't forget that they can somehow produce a toy out of seemingly nowhere and throw it at you.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining and that I hate this type of job, but it's actually the opposite. I actually really enjoy babysitting. It's fun to have to be responsible for someone besides yourself (also when you're a teenager, little kids tend to immediately think you're cool, haha).

While we waited for the pizza, we played some games for a little while. Basic board games like Monopoly (he cheats, but I just let it slide since he's a little kid and sometimes they just think it's funny to cheat. It's not a big deal anyways) and then he showed me his Pokemon collection in one of his games, which, in true little kid fashion, he had given funny nicknames.

When the pizza arrived (it sure took them long enough) we sat down and he told me all about his dad who "works" at Nintendo.

"So, my Dad, he works at Nintendo and this… this is what the new starter Pokemon are gonna look like…"

He pulled out a piece of paper, and holding his pizza slice in one hand and a pencil in the other, began drawing what these "new Pokemon" were going to look like. They were crudely drawn, but had a certain charm to them. I just think it's endearing that he thinks I actually believe him.

"And, yeah. That's what they're gonna look like," he said.

"Oh, wow! Really?" I said, pretending like I was surprised. "Those are really cool!"

"Thanks!" He said, smiling with pride.

"You're the best babysitter I've ever had! I hope my Mom lets you babysit me again sometime!" He smiled at me with endearing eyes, and I… I was just really touched. This kid starts off seeming like a complete brat, but now he says I'm the best babysitter he's ever had…

Maybe first impressions aren't everything. Maybe… if this kid can show me that he's actually really sweet despite seeming like a brat at first, then maybe I can show everyone that I'm not the horrible person they think I am.


	8. Bonding Friends and Concerned Brothers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops sis, I forgot to post a new chapter last week. sksksksk
> 
> Haha. Please enjoy this chapter! XD

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my phone buzzing with about ~20 text messages. Apparently Rin texted me on a group chat at 3 AM this morning and I guess **no one** went to bed. Seriously. Who the hell texts people at 3 AM?

…

Oh, wait. I do that. I texted Len at 3 AM once. Uhh…

I pulled out my phone to check my text messages from the apparently all-nighter trio of Rin, Miku, and Teto.

_To: Miku, Teto, Tei_

_From: Rin_

_YO! You guys wanna get together and hang out or smth?_

_To: Rin, Teto, Tei_

_From: Miku_

_You bet! Where u wanna hang out? :O_

_To: Miku, Rin, Tei_

_From: Teto_

_Yeah, girlll! Sounds fun! ^u^_

_To: Miku, Teto, Tei_

_From: Rin_

_Wait. Where's Tei? She hasn't texted yet._

_To: Miku, Teto, Tei_

_From: Rin_

_Tei_

_To: Miku, Teto, Tei_

_From: Rin_

_Tei_

_To: Miku, Teto, Tei_

_From: Rin_

_TEI! HELLOOO? GIRL R U THERE OR WHAT? ANSWER OR SMTH. IDK._

After reading through Rin's _delightful_ 3 AM spam, I figured it would be best to text her back in the most polite manner I could possibly muster despite being woken up by her DAMN TEXTING. GEEZ RIN GO TO FRICKING BED.

_To: Rin, Miku, Teto_

_From: Tei_

_Uhhh. Sorry about that. I was sleeping. Y'know. Like a normal person?_

Of course, right after that, in true Rin fashion, she responded with the memiest response she probably could've thought of.

_To: Tei, Miku, Teto_

_From: Rin_

_TEI. SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!_

I rolled my eyes at Rin's ridiculous response and tried to think of what to type back.

_To: Rin, Miku, Teto_

_From: Tei_

_Okay, so, how about we hang out and Ai no Cafe since that's kinda like our spot, and then agree to never text Tei again at 3 in the morning. 'Kay?_

_To: Tei, Rin, Teto_

_From: Miku_

_We're sorry, Tei. :D_

Damn. Miku was always so nice. Can't believe there was ever a time I hated her and thought of her as my sworn enemy **.** I'm glad that I was able to put aside my petty jealousy and become friends with her. But, seriously, how does one person manage to be nice 24/7? Like, Miku's never even passive aggressive either. Like man, it makes me feel like I need to try harder!

_To: Tei, Miku, Teto_

_From: Rin_

_Btw, I was thinking we could invite Mayu since she's new and stuff. That okay with you all?_

I exhaled an annoyed sigh. Call me crazy (which a lot of people already do, but forget them), but I think something's a little off about Mayu. Like, I can't put my finger on it, but she almost kinda reminds me of me before I came to Mirai Town. I can't explain it, though…

I looked through the messages, waiting for everyone else to reply, and lo and behold, of course they wanted Mayu to come. Damn goody-two-shoes social butterflies. I guess I really can't be unsociable now, huh?

I regretfully typed a reply, lying through my teeth that I was cool with Mayu tagging along. It's not like I can tell them that I don't trust Mayu, because I don't really have any evidence that she's not trustworthy, and I can't just go around spreading gossip that has the potential to destroy an innocent person's reputation.

Sighing and placing my phone down on my nightstand, I got up and went to go change clothes, then made my way downstairs to make myself breakfast.

* * *

"Good morning," Teiru said, smiling at me as I entered the kitchen.

"Good morning," I muttered, still half-asleep.

Not felling like having to make something from scratch, I reached into the cupboard and grabbed a bowl, fixed myself some cereal, then grabbed some milk out of the fridge and poured it in my cereal.

I saw down to the table and proceed to dig into my cereal as my brother—who KNOWS I'm not a morning person—decided to strike up a conversation with me.

"So, what're your plans today?" He asked.

"Ehh. I was just gonna meet Rin and the gang at Ai no Cafe. Mayu's coming too, so ugh," I said.

"Mayu? That's a new one. Why don't you like her?"

I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Do I _have_ to have a special reason to dislike someone?" I retorted.

Teiru shook his head in what was probably disappointment. Sorry, bro. Sometimes you just don't like someone and you don't have a reason. That's just the way of the Tei, and I'm happy doing things my way. Deal with it.

"So, what happened yesterday? Len came over and told me you had some problems with some people yesterday. He was really concerned about you."

My heart sunk at the memory of yesterday. I really, really didn't like that they had to bring up the fact that I'm albino. I've always been made fun of for being albino, so to be reminded that you basically stick out like a sore thumb and people will never let you live down being an albino really fucking bites. I can handle the other dumb shit, but pointing out I'm albino and telling me I should use it to make it seem like beauty is "unattainable"? No. Fuck you.

Moving on, though, I explained to Teiru what happened yesterday, and he explained that Len told him all that and that he's just glad that nothing really horrible happened.

Apparently Len-kun was really worried, though. Man, he's just the best, isn't he? He's so caring and kind.

"Now, I'm going to give you the same advice I gave Len," he said. "You all are very naïve when it comes to being in a relationship. You two think you're not going to have any issues because you think you're both perfect for each other. You should expect issues, but you should also remember as long as you all love and trust each other and work as a team, you'll get things worked out."

"Also, Len is a very nice young man and it seems like he cares a lot about you. I definitely approve," he added, breaking into a small smile. "In fact, I'm not quite sure I can think of a more adorable couple than the two of you." He tossed me a playful wink and then we both went back to to our breakfast.

Then, I had a realization that I, uh, never arranged a time to meet up with Rin and the gang (and Mayu). Damn my scatterbrained-ness.

I quickly pulled out my phone and dashed off a text to Rin asking what time we were going to meet up, to which she quickly responded "2 PM".

* * *

About three hours later, it was time for me to meet up with everyone.

I pulled up in the parking lot to Ai no Cafe and then proceed to walk into the building. I searched the cafe for Rin's familiar face, and once I spotted her, I made my way over to the booth; just like the last time we met up, Miku cleared the way for me to have the window seat.

For some reason, though, I feel like Mayu was staring daggers at me. Whatever, though. That's her problem not mine. I haven't done anything.

…This time…

"Nice to see you again, Sukone-san," Mayu said flatly.

"Nice to see you, too," I said begrudgingly.

**.:Rin's POV:.**

What the heck, man? Why did Mayu and Tei seem like they already hate each other? Did something happen? That's some real shit. I just wish I had popcorn I could munch on while all this goes down, 'cause this is gonna be good.

…

Okay, I guess it's kinda bad I'm _looking_ for drama. But, hey, in my defense, good drama is good drama.

"So, what's up between you two?" I asked.

Both Tei and Mayu shot me a glare for that.

Geez, I'm sorry for being concerned that my two friends are fighting. I mean, the last time Tei got in a fight or had an issue with someone, she declared "war" on all of us Vocaloids, and then trapped most of us in a room. Who had to break that shit up? Me and Len.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. Maybe there was something I could do before this spirals into an uncontrollable mess like I know it will. Man, and I thought _I_ was the definition of chaos.

Miku spoke up before I did.

"Are you two okay? You all seem kind of tense," she said.

"I'm. fine." Tei insisted.

"And, I'm just lovely as well," Mayu said, folding her arms and turning her head away in disgust.

They really weren't trying to sell things very hard, were they?

"Are—are you sure?" Teto responded. "You all seem pretty angry. Just tell us what's on your minds! Maybe we can help."

"Yeah. If you've got a problem whether it be personal or with each other, just out with it already. We don't need Tei to declare war on Vocaloids again," I said.

I immediately clapped my hands over my mouth, realizing I really, really shouldn't have said that. Ugh. What was I thinking?

"Hey!" Tei exclaimed indignantly.

I took a moment to regain my composure and then apologized.

"I'm sorry. I misspoke. What I should have said was, we don't need you two fighting. Fighting with one another never ends well. Especially if you're _LEN_ and YOU _STEAL_ MY ORANGES," I said, partially trying to reason with them and partially throwing shade at my brother.

Luckily, it looked like my shade lightened the mood because Tei had burst into a giggling fit.

"I'm sorry. I fail to see how my brother stealing my food is so funny," I said, genuinely confused.

It's all fun and games until your brother steals your favorite food, then it's personal! I don't think she'd like it very much if I stole whatever food she likes, but, meh. Some people are weird.

"So what do you see in this Len, anyways? What's so special and important about him?" Mayu asked.

"Everything," Tei sighed, gazing into space with sparkly, lovestruck eyes.

Mayu looked on, confused. Clearly she was expecting a different response.

"Care to go into detail?"

Tei immediately gasped excitedly and babbled on and on about my brother.

_Mayu, why? We could've been friends, but instead you've summoned a horrible demon who's not gonna stop talking about my brother._

It's already annoying enough when Len doesn't shut up about how great he is, despite being a socially awkward scatterbrain. I guess lesson learned here, if you don't wanna hear about your brother, don't hang out with someone who's madly in love with your brother.

But it's worth it, though. Tei's really cool, and it's fun having another quirky friend like her.

It seems that maybe Mayu was starting to warm up to her, too.

**.:Mayu's POV:.**

I know before I said it was annoying, but I think it's actually kind of sweet that Tei cares about Len so much. It'd be nice if maybe, I had a love interest like that…. I don't know… maybe I _am_ a little jealous. They're both really sweet to each other, and I suppose maybe… I wish… I wish I had someone like that.

Pushing the thought aside, I went back to chatting with everyone. They were all really kind and nice, but they were all also such oddballs. I sort of felt right at home with them. They were like a bunch of fun siblings!


	9. A New Friend

**.:Piko’s POV:.**

I paced around my room, trying to figure out what to do. I kinda had a crush on Mayu, but… I didn’t know how to ask her out. Well, I really couldn’t ask her out; not yet. We hardly know each other, so it’s not like I can actually ask her out! But I can at the very least try to become friends with her and see if she wants to hang out! Isn’t that how Len ended up with Tei? So it must work, right?

I ran the scenario through my head a few times.

_ I would go down to her floor and knock on her door. _

_ She’d open it and then that’d be my cue. _

_ “Hi, Mayu!” I’d say. “My name’s Piko.” _

_ “Oh, hello, Piko! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” She’d say. _

_ “Hey, uh, would you like to hang out sometime? Since you're new and stuff, I thought that it’d be a good idea to invite you to do something together,” I’d say. _

_ She’d mention how appreciative she is that I’m so considerate and agree. _

_ “Wow, thank you so much, Piko-kun!! What time should we meet?” She’d say. _

_ “What works best for you?” I’d ask her. _

_ “Oh, you know, whenever is fine. Just let me know!” She’d say. _

That seemed like it would work out nicely, so I left my room, took the elevator down to Mayu’s floor, made my way to her room, and knocked on her door.

_ Deep breaths, Piko. Deep breaths. You’ve got this. All you have to do is introduce yourself and ask her if she’d like to hang out together sometime. No biggie. _

Then as soon as she opened the door that’s when everything went south and all my self-confidence left me.

“Oh, hello! Can I help you with something?” She said, smiling brightly.

All the sudden I felt all my confidence completely leave me. I couldn’t remember what I wanted to say to her, or even how to talk.

“U-um, h-hi. I-I’m Piko, and I uh… uh…”

_ Shoot! What was I gonna say? _

“Are you feeling alright? You’re sweating quite a lot and you seem nervous. Perhaps you should go to the infirmary,” she suggested.

I just nodded and walked away, mentally scolding myself for being so ridiculously awkward.

_ Ugh. What would Len do…? _

And that’s when it hit me! I could ask Len and Sukone-san for advice. If I remembered correctly, Len and Sukone-san had this same issue at first where they had difficulty talking to each other. So maybe they might know a thing or two about getting past that communication barrier.

I pulled out my phone to text Len, and asked him if he wouldn’t mind giving me Sukone-san’s number because I wanted to text both of them.

* * *

_ To: Len, Sukone _

_ From Piko _

_ Hey, guys! Can I get relationship advice from you all? There’s a girl that I wanna talk to and hang out with, but the problem is I can’t talk to her. I get too nervous! _

_ To: Piko, Len _

_ From Sukone _

_ Lmao. I know that feel, bro. _

_ To: Piko, Len _

_ From Sukone _

_ I couldn’t talk to Len for, like, ever. :P _

_ To: Piko, Sukone _

_ From Len _

_ Yeah. The amount of times I had to ask Rin for advice was crazy. I couldn’t talk to Tei properly to save my life or tell her how much I liked her. I’m so awkward. _

_ To: Len, Piko _

_ From: Sukone _

_ That’s exactly why I love Len. He’s a dork. _

_ To: Len, Piko _

_ From: Sukone _

_ But, back on topic, you eventually get more comfortable talking to each other. The first time I talked to Len, I could barely spit two words out. Heck. I accidentally told him my name was Len. _

_ To: Len, Tei _

_ From: Piko _

_ Lol. Would you guys be willing to help me out? Can you be, like, my wing people or something? _

_ To: Piko, Len _

_ From: Tei _

_ Yeah sure. Don’t know what we can really do, but if being there helps… :P _

_ To: Piko, Tei _

_ From: Len _

_ Of course, Piko! _

_ To: Len, Tei _

_ From: Piko _

_ Thanks guys! _

And on that note I put my phone back in my pocket and mentally prepared myself to try talking to Mayu again. Man was I nervous.

* * *

Sukone-san and Len showed up soon after we got done texting with each other and I had to steel my nerves to talk to Mayu again.

_ It’s okay, Piko! You got this!! Just talk to her like she’s any other person. _

I approached Mayu’s door and knocked on it once again.

“Oh, it’s you again,” she said after opening the door. “Did you need something?”

I took in a deep breath and then exhaled to calm my nerves. “Yeah, actually, I er… I wanted to…”

I spotted Sukone-san out of the corner of my eye making all sorts of confusing hand gestures. I think she was trying to help since I felt nervous, but I had no idea what she was trying to say even though she was looking at me quite furiously.

“Ask her if she wants to hang out with you!” she hissed.

Unfortunately for me, I think Mayu spotted Sukone-san and Len, but I don’t think she was too happy about it because her face looked sour all of a sudden.

“Is this some kind of a joke? I don’t take kindly to being the butt of some childish prank,” she said, eyeing me suspiciously.

“N-no! I swear this isn’t a prank!” I assured her. “I just wanted to see if you’d like to hang out sometime. Since you’re new and all, I wanted to get to know you.”

Mayu’s expression softened suddenly and I felt relieved. That must mean she believes me, right?

“All right. When were you thinking we’d do that?” she asked. 

“What works best for you? I’m not particularly busy this week, so I’m good anytime between now and Friday.”

“Ah. Well, I do have some things I have to take care of today and tomorrow, and a recording session on Thursday. But, I’d be free anytime on Friday. Does 4:00 PM Friday work for you?” she said.

“Sure thing!” I said. “See you then!”

“See you then,” she said, closing the door with a smile.

_ Yes!  _ I gushed to myself, pumping my fist in the air.

“Have fun during your ‘hang out’,” Sukone-san said with a playful smirk.

Len giggled slightly. “Pfff. Yeah. Have fun!” He said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

It was clear they were teasing me about my obvious crush on Mayu, but I didn’t mind. It’s just good friend banter, and I’m all for that!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just thought I should let everyone know that chapter updates may become much slower. The document with the most recent chapters got corrupted and now I have to rewrite them! The good news is, they'll get increasingly better, so you can look forward to them!


	10. Talking About Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating lately! I've been experiencing some bad writer's block ever since the document all of my most recent chapters were written in got corrupted. ^^"
> 
> Hope you're all doing well!

**.:Mayu's POV:.**

I stepped back into my room and was greeted by Merli, who had apparently been there the whole time without my knowing. Ugh. She might be a fairy, but that doesn't mean she can just use her magic to barge into other people's living spaces. How rude.

Besides, we may be friends, but that certainly does not mean I fully trust her. After all, she's implied she possesses some form of mind control, but I still don't know to what extent. I saw how quickly she was able to send a mass of people to go bother Tei, so clearly she can very easily manipulate others.

"So, what was that all about?" she asked.

"Oh, a fellow Vocaloid was wanting to see if I'd like to hang out with him some time," I said. "He seems like a delightful fellow, though a bit awkward."

"Hmm… but how can you be sure this isn't some kind of a prank? That he and his couple of friends weren't trying to mess with you?" she said.

My heart sank as her words hit me. I hadn't even considered that… I thought it was someone just trying to be genuinely kind and friendly. But, maybe they weren't…

The thought of someone playing such a dirty trick on me made me want to cry. I came here hoping to make friends, but what if… what if they all just see me as some competitor and are somehow trying to feel me out to know if I'm a threat to them…?

_Don't kid yourself Mayu. After all, you're not really any better. That's what you've been doing to Tei, isn't it? Pretending to be friendly while attempting to break her…_

"You… you really think that's what they're doing?" I said, trying to fight back tears.

"Maybe. Probably. After all, this isn't a club, this is a profession where you all get paid commission to sing. It's not like a namby-pamby school club where you go to make friends," she replied harshly.

"Mayu? Who are you talking to?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin hearing someone else's voice. I'd forgotten that I'm the only one who can see Merli right now, and so I probably looked like some weirdo talking to myself.

I turned to see who the voice belonged to and saw Miku standing in my doorway giving me a concerned look.

"Oh—oh, er, hello Miku. I was just um… thinking out loud! Yes. Thinking out loud! I hope I wasn't disturbing you!" I said, forcing a smile whilst being on the verge of tears.

Miku gave me an odd look and then quickly covered it up with a smile. "Haha. No worries!" She assured me. "You just sounded upset and I wanted to make sure you're alright. It's the least I can do as your friend!"

"We're… friends…?" I muttered in surprise.

"Of course! I like to be friends with everyone I meet, because the only thing more fun than one friend is a whole bunch of friends!" She exclaimed delightedly. "I'm really looking forward to hearing your first song! I hope you put one out soon!"

"And —if something's ever bothering you, know you can come to me about it."

"Thank you," I said, meeting her gaze for a moment. "I will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll be stepping out for some fresh air."

"Enjoy!" She said.

* * *

I stepped outside wearing not a lolita dress for once, but casual clothing. It was quite rainy out and I wouldn't want to risk ruining my fancy dresses or shoes. Besides, it's much more comfortable to walk in casual clothing and sneakers.

Already, it felt like my mind was cleared. Something about the rain was very relaxing and soothing. This was the first time in a while I felt like I could think clearly.

Suddenly, all the events from the past few weeks rushed through my head. I realized that although I came here hoping to make friends, I've been so mean and passive-agressive with Tei… I felt really badly about it, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to stop being that way with her. Like, there was a fog in my brain that was affecting my ability to think clearly.

_So much for making friends. Rin and everyone else might be nice and kind, but who would want to be friends with someone who bullies their friend? Who'd want to be friends with the girl who looks like she's talking to herself?_

As those thoughts raced through my mind, my lip began to quiver and my eyes began to well up. My throat felt tight as I was overcome with emotions and I choked out the words:

" _Why… would anyone want to be my friend?_ "

And with that, I broke down into tears, sobbing. I wasn't ready for the city like I thought I was; I was alone with no one around to comfort in this time of need…

Or so I thought…

"Is something the matter?" a voice coming from seemingly nowhere asked.

I looked up from my sobbing and wiped my eyes hurriedly, looking around for whomever the voice belonged to.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I really ought to show myself…"

A lady with short, turquoise hair appeared out of what seemed like thin air, surrounded by magical-looking sparkles.

"Another fairy…?" I muttered curiously to myself, earning an odd look from the lady.

_Come to think of it… Merli did mention she has a sister, could this be the sister Merli was referring to?_

"What do you mean another—never mind. What seems to be the matter?" She asked, concern filling her voice.

I looked at her, surprised for a moment at the kindness of a random stranger. I suppose I'm just not used to how genuinely kind people are here. I was expecting a more "dog eat dog" world where everyone competes to get themselves hired for songs, not caring whose toes they step on… instead I've met some very kind people who, despite only having just met me, welcomed me into their friend groups… and yet, I've become the very person I never wanted to be: someone who belittles others and tries to bring them down.

"Do you mind if I bend your ear for a little bit?" I said.

"Of course not. That's why I asked you!" She said, smiling brightly.

"Well, you see, I came to this town because I was asked here by a big record label, and things really haven't been going as I thought. I've only been asked to record one song since the demo, but that's not the whole reason I'm…"

I took in a deep breath to try and calm myself so I wouldn't break down again.

"That's not the whole reason I'm upset… I came here hoping to make friends and I'd like to think I've done well at that, but then… someone who I thought is my friend put it into my head that maybe they're just using me and trying to feel out the competition… that they're not really my friends…"

The fairy looked at me with a comforting smile. "I'm not sure who's telling you this, but knowing the Vocaloids as well as I do, I know they're not cutthroat like that. They want to be your friends," she said, smiling.

"Really?" I said, voice cracking.

"Really," she said.

She gave me a comforting pat on the back and tossed me a smile. Her smile turned into a surprise for a moment and she spoke up once again. "Oh, gosh. I'm sorry. I just realized I never introduced myself! My name is Aoki Lapis. And you are…?"

"Mayu," I said, finally feeling like I could smile a bit.

"Well, Mayu-san, I hope that I was able to make you feel even the tiniest bit better, and I want you to know that I'll be in your corner cheering for you!" Aoki-san said.

"Thank you. I appreciate that," I said, feeling myself break into a grin.

I suppose I was very touched by the kindness of a random stranger. It meant a lot to me that she would listen to the woes of some random girl she's never spoken to before and be so kind.

"Do you have a phone number? I'd like to stay in touch with you, if I can," I asked.

"Sure do. Hold on just a moment…" She waved her hand and a phone appeared.

"Mayu-san, correct?" She said, handing her phone over to me. "Mind entering your number for me?"

I handed her my phone to enter her number then took her phone and entered my number.

"Looking forward to talking some more later!" I said.

And with that, we parted our separate ways. Little did I realize this encounter would lead somewhere much, much bigger than a simple conversation.


	11. A Rainy Day Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry for not updating in a month! I've been very burned out and didn't have a lot of time to write, but I should have more time now so yay! Hopefully I can get back to a normal posting schedule! Thank you all for being patient! (Also, I had no clue what to call this chapter, lol.)

**.:Tei's POV:.**

As the rain poured down and seemed to have no intention of letting up, I dashed from cover to cover desperately trying to stay dry. Despite my best efforts to remain dry, I'd already gotten completely soaked.

_Go figure it's the one damn time I don't drive somewhere that I get poured on. Dammit._

I was soaking fuckin' wet with water dripping from my clothes to the very tips of my hair strands. Of course, when you have hair as long as mine, it feels heavy as fuck.

_Damn long hair…_

I looked up from my cover for a moment and looked at the scene of pouring rain in front of me.

 _Damn rain,_ I thought grumpily.

Actually, the rainy scene in front of my eyes was beautiful. The way the evening stars and the moon were being reflected in the puddles was magical in a way. And the way the streetlights provided illumination and reflected off of the puddles just added to the beauty.

Unbeknownst to me, a small smile crept up on my face as I relaxed a bit, admiring the beauty of nature in front of my eyes. I was supposed to meet up with Len at his house, but it didn't seem the rain would be letting up anytime soon to let me reach my destination.

I pulled out my phone to text Len.

_To: Len-kun_

_From: Tei_

_Hey, it's really rainy out so I'm running a little late. See you soon!_

Setting my phone back down on my lap, I sat down at a nearby bus stop and took in the scenery. The pitter patter of the rain was just so relaxing and the scenery looked like something out of a beautiful painting.

In weather like this, I couldn't help but to reminisce a bit.

_I can't believe it's only been a few months since I came here… it feels like forever ago now._

I couldn't help but to smile a bit. I felt so much happier now than I did back before I came. I had really great friends, an amazing boyfriend (I could go on about him, but then I'd never stop), and a place where I finally felt like I could be myself.

I've also noticed the climate around here is much better for me physically. My skin, while still being obviously albino, wasn't as pale as it previously was and my hair had gotten thicker and wavyer, too. It made me happy to see such changes that were most likely due to the fact I go outside more often instead of staying in my room for days on end tinkering with different gadgets and whatnot without even bothering to try and get some sunlight.

I found myself about to get lost in thought again until I heard a familiar voice call out to me.

"Tei!" It called out. "I came to get you!"

I turned my head and saw Len running my way (and nearly tripping over himself like the awkward dork that he is) with an umbrella.

"Uh, sorry. I don't know what I was thinking, but… I only brought one umbrella. Ehehehe…" He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and blushing slightly.

 _You silly boy… you knew exactly what you were doing, didn't you? You wanted to share an umbrella with me…_ I thought, throwing him a mischievous but knowing smirk.

Len began blushing profusely and his movements became discombobulated and awkward. "I-I swear I just forgot the umbrella—I-I wasn't trying to get us to share an umbrella or anything. Y-yeah…"

I giggled as he extended the umbrella out to me and we both got under its cover. "For the record… I don't _mind_ sharing an umbrella with you," I said, smiling at him playfully.

On the outside I was playing it nonchalant and calmly, but on the inside? I was freaking out like the fangirl that I am.

 _Oh my god. We're sharing an umbrella… we are SHARING a fucking UMBRELLA. That means our relationship is in great standing! We'll get married in no time!_ I silently gushed to myself.

* * *

In no time at all, we were at Len's house. The only issue was that I was still soaking wet and a bit irritable, but being around Len and his family made it better. They were all so friendly and kind that it was hard to remain irritated.  
Come to think of it, this would mark the first time I've actually gotten to meet his parents and this is the first time they're meeting me.

 _Oh no. I hope I can make a good first impression…_ I thought, suddenly feeling like a boulder had sunk to the bottom of my stomach.

Len's mother and Rin came over to greet me at the door.

"Hey, Tei! Good to see you, girl!" Rin said, bouncing over to me.

"Nice to see you, too, Rin!" I said.

"Hello, Tei! I'm Len's mother. It's a pleasure to finally meet the girl I've heard so much about," Len's mom said to me. "Len certainly seems to like you a lot."

I looked over at Len's face which was now turning bright red and had _the most_ embarrassed look on his face. It was even funnier when he started fumbling around with his tie and hair, which led to his Mom and Rin breaking into a fit of giggles.

"Now, enough of that for now. You're soaked, you poor thing! There's a blow dryer upstairs and a spare towel. Why don't you get dried off while I have Rin and Len grab you some fresh clothes and I make you something to warm you up?"

"O-okay! Thank you!" I said, removing my shoes and making my way upstairs.

* * *

I spent several minutes blow-drying my hair because, boy, do I have a lot of hair. Maybe too much for my own good, but… I love my hair so it's worth it. Also, it took years to grow it out this long so I kinda have to be committed to it, don't I?

After I was done, Rin came and brought in a change of clothes for me to wear.

"Here's some clothes. Len wanted you to have this old shirt of his and he said you could keep it since it doesn't fit him anymore." She smirked a bit. "He thinks it would be cute if you had a shirt that matched his."

It took a moment to let that sink in, but wow… Len-kun wants to match me. He wants to be _that_ kind of couple, _and_ he's giving me _his_ old shirt. Wow.

"Oh, yeah. And you can have this pair of shorts of mine. I've got a buncha identical pairs already, so I don't need these," she said.

She walked up to me and patted me on each shoulder once, as if she were knighting me. "Congratulations! I hereby dub thee an honorary Kagamine," she said with a silly smile.

I broke into a smile, too. I really had no idea why, but being named an "honorary Kagamine" meant a lot to me. I guess because it meant they thought of me like family and that I meant that much to them. Well then, if that's the case, they're honorary Sukones in my book!

I looked in the mirror to have a look-see at my new outfit and I actually liked it a lot. No, not just because it looks like Len's. I can like something that looks like it'd belong to Len without me liking it having anything to do with Len. I swear.

To complete the look, I put my hair up in a ponytail because it just felt right for some reason (also it looked cute and Len likes ponytails therefore I like them, too). I really liked the look of the ponytail with this outfit; it went really well for some reason.

**.:Len's POV:.**

I watched as Tei came downstairs, wearing her old new outfit, and um… wow. She looked really good? I'm not just saying that because it looks like something I would wear—she just looks, like, really cute. But also she kinda looks elegant at the same time? Must be the way her long hair flows out behind her (even if she _does_ have it in a ponytail).

It was pretty obvious that she was probably trying to look like me. Without the ponytail, I wouldn't have batted an eye, but with the ponytail? I think that's pretty on the nose considering I'm known for wearing a ponytail (and she would know; she's probably—no—she _is_ my biggest fan).

 _What a fangirl!_ I laughed silently to myself.

Normally, I'd find a fangirl trying to dress like me as off-putting and a warning sign that she likes me _too_ much. But Tei? Nah. I trust her completely, and I know that her imitating me should be taken as a compliment and that this is one of her many quirks. She's funny like that, and that's just one of the many, many things I love about her. (As for what else I love about her? If I said all that, I'd go on for ages!)

"So, what did you want to talk to me about anyway?" she asked.

What I wanted to talk to her about was maybe having her help out with mine and Rin's concerts, heck, even Miku's in on it, too! We know that Tei is trying to create a better image for herself, so we had been thinking if we had her assist in organizing concerts then maybe some good word would spread about her since people are getting to see the _real_ Tei; not the crazy psycho Tei that everyone thinks she is.

Given she's been studying science and engineering, and that she's mentioned she spends a lot of time messing around with machinery and "tinkering" with things as she'd say, we all thought it was a good idea to put her in charge of some of the backstage kind of stuff. Also, none of us have an idea what the heck we're doing when it comes to that kind of stuff, so we could really use her help.

Admittedly, part of the reason we need her help is because, um… a lot of the people we usually have on our "team" quit because they don't like that I'm dating Tei. They don't wanna associate with someone who hangs around a "crazy person". But, if that's the way they're gonna be, then I'd rather have Tei and _her_ support any day than people who aren't gonna support me and the people I care about just because they don't like the girl I'm dating! I've known Tei for long enough now to know she's not _nearly_ as crazy as everyone else seems to think.

But there's no way I'd tell her all of that. I don't want her blaming herself or feeling like it's her fault that our assistants quit. My main reason anyways for getting her help was to make her part of our team and to give her another way to prove to everyone that she _is_ a good person.

"We've been thinking you could help us out with things backstage for some of our performances, and we all thought it was about time we made you part of our team anyways!" I explained. "I think it's a way for you to show off all the great things about you to everyone, too."

Tei's face lit up and she began beaming a smile that could outshine the sun itself.

"That sounds like fun, Len-kun!" She said. "Thanks for thinking of me! I can't wait to show everyone what I can do!"

Seeing her happy like that made me happy, too. I always know when she's very happy about something because her entire face just lights up! She has a smile I'd want to protect at all costs. She smiles a lot, but seeing her smile so sincerely and sweetly melts my heart every time.

"So when do I start? What's my job gonna be?"

"Uh… well, if it's alright with you, we were thinking you could help with effects and stuff if that's your thing, but you could also help with backstage stuff, too. Basically, we could use a lot of help with engineering kinda stuff," I said.

Tei's eyes immediately lit up, and she didn't even need to say anything to me. I knew exactly what that response meant.

"Of course I'll help!" She said. "Thank you, Len-kun! That's a _brilliant_ idea!"

I smiled, feeling like I had done something helpful—and helping Tei means the world to me. I want everyone to see just how great she is.

I felt my face flush red as a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around me and I looked down to see that Tei had wrapped me in a hug and no intention of letting go. Not that I really minded in the slightest.

I looked down at her with a smile, wrapping my arms around her, too.

_Just you wait, Tei. We'll show everyone just how amazing you are._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you enjoyed this cute chapter! Don't ask what happened to the Kagamines' dad because I don't know. I was gonna put him in but I just kinda... forgot. XD
> 
> Maybe both their parents will appear in a future chapter, but, meh. They're not that important to the story, lol.


	12. Tei the Stagehand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It liiiives! I know this update took a while, but I'm happy to finally put a new one out! I've been so busy with my other projects I wasn't able to make time to work on this. (Didn't help I lost half the chapters a while back.)
> 
> But without further ado, please enjoy chapter 12!

**.:Tei's POV:.**

I sprung up out of bed bright and early the next morning. I was absolutely elated to be working alongside Len-kun as a stagehand of sorts. I'm not sure how exactly this plan will help me, but I trust Len knows what he's doing (even if Rin _does_ say he's a scatterbrain, but, hey, she's there to keep his head out of the clouds). Moreover, I'm excited to show everyone what I'm capable of, for both noble reasons and the fact that I kinda like showing off.

I walked down the stairs to get some breakfast and was promptly greeted by my brother.

"Oh? You seem quite chipper. Something happened with Len, I presume?" He said, tossing a teasing look my way. "Either way, it's nice to see you so chipper."

"I'll probably be out of the house for much of the day. I'll be helping Len-kun prepare for his concert and I'll also be working as stagehand," I said.

"Well then, you better make sure to eat a nice breakfast so you have plenty of energy for all the work you'll be doing. I wouldn't want you to not have enough energy, because then how would you do your best?"

"Of course. Thanks for looking out for me, bro," I said, grabbing a bowl and the ingredients for _oyakodon,_ as well as some tea to go with it. Gotta start the day healthy, right?

I quickly downed my tea and my very tasty breakfast, then went back upstairs to get ready to leave.

* * *

When I walked into the backstage area, I was given a very warm greeting by Len and Rin… however, the other little employees or whatever they are weren't so kind. I was met with mutters, side conversations, and unfriendly side glances. They clearly were not pleased that I was here.

"Isn't that the lunatic girl who tried to declare 'war' on the Vocaloids?"

"How do you declare war on Vocaloids anyways? They're literally just a singing group; not a country or something."

"She's probably deranged. How else can you explain it?"

" _I'm not deranged. Maybe you're the ones with the problem"_ is what I wanted to say. But sadly this situation requires that I take a very tactful approach —besides, failing to handle things in a tactful manner would only make them look right.

"Why would Len want to date someone as awful as _her?_ "

 _Maybe because I'm actually a nice fucking person and you're just a judgemental prick._ I bit back the sharp reply even though I could feel in every bone of my body that I wanted to say it.

I forced a smile onto my face as I walked through. Did it look tense and awkward as fuck? Yeah. It did. Did I care? No. No I didn't.

As if he could read my mind, Len came over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked, tossing me a concerned look. "Just don't pay attention to them. They just don't understand—I've already day told them everything they need to know, but they just refuse to listen to me and Rin."

"I'll be fine," I said begrudgingly.

Inside I was seething, but I felt like I couldn't let show or they'd win. And I really wish I could just let out all of my anger, but that's not good for anyone.

Besides, I already made an agreement between myself and my brother that I'd keep my anger and other emotions in check. I tend to get angry much more easily than the rest of my peers, and have always had difficulty managing my anger. But to be honest, things have been so much easier since I moved here. My friends are very nice and easygoing people, so I find that my attitude these days leans towards a more easygoing one as well. So… can't complain there.

But people like this really piss me off. Not to say I didn't deserve it at least a little bit. I did attempt to wreak havoc over a misunderstanding after all. I just… I just wish they'd be more open-minded to giving me a second-chance, that's all. OR y'know —not act like I'm a horrible criminal or some shit like that.

"So, what can _I_ do to help?" I said, trying to bite back my annoyance.

"Umm, well…" Len scratched the back of his head nervously. "You see… uh, I don't really know what kind of engineering stuff you do… I just had this idea and was like 'hey! Tei might wanna be in on this. I should tell her!'"

_You are so lucky I love you. If you were anyone else, I would totally let you have it right now…_

I mentally scolded myself for thinking that way about one of the _few_ people who actually wanna help me. He was trying his best, even if his best was uh… how to put this nicely… not very good…? Well, A for effort, I guess.

"Okay, okay. Are you good with SFX or set design? We could use some help making our performances have a little more ' _pizazz_ '," he said, doing jazz-hands at the pizazz part.

"Just leave it to me."

I gave him a quick salute and went backstage to see what I had to work with.

* * *

Looking backstage, it seemed I didn't have very much to work with except for some light projections. That was alright, though. As someone who's skilled at engineering, I like to pride myself on making the most of the least materials.

Using what materials I had to work with and my engineering skills, I threw together a lights show. It'd make use of special effects while Rin and Len do all their performing onstage. What it does is it's perfectly timed to their motions and choreography, so when they come up close to the screen, a perfectly timed holographic/light effect will play that coordinates with their routine.

For example, they'll be singing the song "Childish War", and I've programmed a few effects to go along with the choreography. There's one part of the choreography where they approach a screen and some lights show up, but I've gone a step further and programmed a little "game" to go along with it. It's not a real game, but the light effects work in a way that makes it look as if they're playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe when they approach the screen.

Pretty cool, eh?

After I was done with my newest little invention here, I ran out to the audience so I could see it in action. I had to test it first, of course. We can't have a dysfunctional invention throwing off the whole concert, now can we?

Rin and Len came out to test it and…!

…

 _...nothing…_ absolutely fucking nothing happened. What the hell went wrong?! One thing. I just wanted _one_ thing to go right for once instead of being a total fucking disaster. All the work I did and-

A cord lying on the ground caught my attention and I went to go investigate. I went over to pick it up and plug it in and… it fixed the issue! The screen just wasn't plugged in. Oh thank goodness…

_Wow. Tei, you moron! You forgot to plug the damn thing in, you dummy… wait why did I even give it a plug anyways?_

I shrugged off my moment of idiocy and went back to go watch Rin and Len-kun's practice run. They did great for having to deal with an impromptu addition, but I guess that's to be expected of a couple of the best performers around, right?

* * *

_Later that evening..._

After hours worth of testing and practicing with the new effects, I went and shyly hung out in the front row of the crowd to watch the performance, hoping that nobody here knew who I was—for two reasons, actually. The whole "declare war on all the Vocaloids" thing, obviously, but also the fact that I'm Len's girlfriend. Being Len's girlfriend means I'm now a person of interest and likely will have to deal with people wanting to talk to me because I'm "famous"-ish.

Len and Rin walked out onto the stage, waving kindly to their fans-and then Len-kun looked me directly in the eyes, grinned, and then winked.

My cheeks immediately flushed red and I thought I was going to faint! He's such a heartthrob, hee hee. What, with his mesmerizing blue eyes, cute spiky hair, and precious face… he's _so_ cute when he's onstage, too! He becomes a totally different person, but still has the authentic Len-kun charm I love oh-so-very-much.

Sometimes I still wonder how I was lucky enough to end up with him of all people. A girl as "crazy" as me and a guy as innocent and sweet as him… we seem like an odd pair. I'm not even half as kind as he is, and yet… he said he loved me anyways and now he's trying to help me.

Sometimes… sometimes I felt like I really didn't deserve him. That there are better people than me he could be dating, but then there's that part of me that fills with seething anger and jealousy if he so much as even looks at another girl or another girl looks at him.

 _No, Tei. Len is with you because he says he loves you._ _ **He**_ _was the one who wanted to be with_ _ **you**_ , _too,_ I reminded myself. _Don't you even remember how sad he was when you turned him down? When he thought you were no longer interested in him? Remember how his eyes lit up when he talked to you?_

Just reminding myself of that was enough to make me feel a bit better. How could I have forgotten that I mean just as much to him as he does to me?

I was suddenly snapped from my thoughts by the sound of the audience cheering. I turned my head to the stage and saw as everything came together. The effect lights played as Rin and Len-kun flawlessly performed their choreography! The crowd oohed and aahed at the light displays as they transformed into different shapes and sizes.

"These effects are amazing!" someone shouted.

"I wonder who's in charge of all this stuff…" I heard someone mutter, barely audible over the loud music and the cheering of the audience.

The crowd went wild for the effects, leaving me feeling full of pride. Like, wow. At the concert of two of the most popular singers in Mirai Town, the crowd is in love with my effects? They're that good?

I couldn't help but beam with pride. I felt very appreciated at that moment; like all my hard work really paid off! I was a bit skeptical that Len-kun's plan would work, but I have to hand it to him—this is going very smoothly.

* * *

The crowd roared with excitement as Rin and Len finished their final performance of the night and took their bows. It had actually been a lot of fun because the whole crowd was full of energy singing and dancing to their favorite songs. Heck, I even joined in because I just got lost in the energy. It was contagious! Though, it makes me feel like I could maybe stand to let loose a little more often and just relax. I _do_ tend to be pretty dark and moody after all, heh.

Little did I realize there was one more surprise in store for me…

"Before we finish up for the night, we'd like to call someone very special up to the stage! Tei, will you please come here?" Len called out.

I felt my face turn red as all the attention suddenly turned towards me. Being the center of attention really was _not_ my thing. Suddenly, I no longer minded the fact that being an UTAU made me stand out much less compared to the Vocaloids, ehehehe.

I hopped up the stairs to the stage and stood next to Len.

"Everyone, this is Tei! She's the super awesome person who programmed all the amazing special effects you saw tonight!" He said.

"So can everyone please give her a round of applause?" Rin asked delightedly.

The audience cheered and clapped, and it was all for me. I really couldn't believe it…

I felt joy and pride swirl up in my chest as I blushed embarrassedly.

"Um… thanks everyone! I'm really glad you like the effects! I put my heart and soul into'em, and I look forward to coming back to do more!" I said.

I mentally facepalmed because I do not have a way with words when it comes to public speaking. I spoke like a nervous, incoherent mess. But! Nonetheless, I was still happy! So many people liked my effects and it really made me feel appreciated— like all my studying and toiling was worth it!

 _Thank you, Rin and Len-kun…_ I thought, feeling relieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yay! So that was chapter 12! Tei and Len are pretty cute, eh? I love writing supportive boyfriend Len; he's a cinnamon bun and deserves to be protected! (I hope you all feel the same, haha!)
> 
> Btw, *if* (huge if, lol) any of you wonderful readers ever do any fanart for the fic, please do me on one of social media! I'd love to see it!
> 
> Question for next time: Do you think this publicity will help Tei earn the respect of the public and other Vocaloids, or does she still have a lot more to work on?


	13. Mayu's Final Straw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been busy with some other projects and haven't had time to write and have been forgetting to update!

**.:Mayu’s POV:.**

* * *

I watched in jealousy from the shadows of the crowd. Merli had discovered that Tei would be working as a stagehand for the Kagamines tonight and insisted that I should go check it out for whatever reason… I don’t even know why I listen to her at this point, but I do. And as for how she got this information no one else seemed to be aware of, who knows at this point? I think she’s involved in all kinds of sketchy things, if I’m to be completely honest. 

Seeing Tei getting all that praise makes my chest burn! Ugh! Why can’t I be loved and praised the same way she does? I just would like some people to give  _ me  _ attention, too. Why is she so successful but I’m not?! Sure, I’ve gotten songs, but they were all literally commissioned by my management team. It’s not like I was  _ actually  _ hired because someone  _ wanted _ me to sing their song.

Tei on the other hand, has multiple cover songs and a debut original already — not to mention she’s working with two of the biggest performers in Mirai Town and she’s dating one of them. How’d she get in good with all the bigshots, eh? I literally live with them, but we hardly interact at all.

She must be sooo very special. And then she goes and acts all bashful like that onstage! Given her rather poor attitude and the fact she’s quite the unsavory sort, I don’t think she belongs up on that stage with them and she shouldn’t be dating Len either.

As a matter of fact, why do _they_ get all the attention anyways? I think I could easily be just as good as them and yet I get overlooked! I… just want to be loved like her… but if I can’t get it… then… then I’ll just take it all from her!

I turned to Merli who was floating in her smaller form by my side and I lifted a shaky finger, pointing towards Tei. 

“Merli, I want you to break her heart. I don’t care how. Just break it.”

She looked at me as if I were insane.

“Mayu, you know by now I’m all for messing with others, but don’t you believe this is a little  _ extreme _ ?”

Damn fairy. Acting like I’m crazy!! So what?! Maybe deep down I am crazy. Maybe I was just keeping under wraps this entire time. 

“Just do it.”

I looked her square in the eyes as I uttered the command, then pointed at that boy Tei is so enamored with. 

“Make  _ him _ break her heart. It’ll hurt more that way,” I said darkly.

Once again, that earned me an extremely concerned look from Merli.

“Mayu, are you sure about this? I don’t think we should do something  _ that  _ damaging. Having the guy she loves with all her heart go and break it seems unnecessarily cruel…”

Damn fairy. Why couldn’t she just listen to me?! She said she would help me, and that she was my friend so why couldn’t she help me right now? All I have to do is knock Tei out of the spotlight and then it’s mine…

“Just do it, damn it!” I demanded, raising my voice slightly.

Merli heaved a reluctant sigh and worked her magic on Len.

....

....

....

Nothing happened. If anything he was  _ more  _ lovey-dovey than he already fucking was. Pardon my damn language.

Looking her in the eyes, totally lovestruck. They were both lovesick idiots, and they didn’t belong together. One is unhinged and the other one is just plain dumb. He probably doesn’t even have an intelligent bone anywhere in that body.

“Merli, why isn’t your magic working?!” I snarled.

She simply tossed me a confused look and shrugged. 

“I think their love is too strong for my magic. It would take something far greater than my magic to have things go awry for them,” she said.

I shot her a glare. That was an absolutely feeble excuse.

“Don’t give me such a cliché and pathetic excuse! You did something to them, didn’t you?!” I snapped.

Merli simply tossed me an annoyed glare and rolled her eyes.

“I assure you, crazy, that I did nothing. This is just them.”

Crazy? Crazy?! She has the nerve to call me crazy?! How dare she!

“Fine. If you won’t break them, then I’ll be forced to do it myself,” I snarled. 

I didn’t know what it was at that time… maybe I was just jealous of them — of her — I  _ knew  _ it would be wrong to break them up, but I just couldn’t help the way I was feeling then. I know that’s no excuse but I… my jealousy knew no bounds. I was blinded by my jealousy and I let it consume me… that’s when I did the most awful thing I’d ever done…

* * *

I called Len to come meet up with me near the corner near the ice cream shop downtown. I really didn’t have a real plan, but I knew it involved framing him to hurt Tei… to do that, I needed more information on him. How does he talk to her? How does he act around her?

I waited at the corner, just standing there as if I were standing on pins and needles. Impatient, angry, jealous, overemotional— that was me in that moment. Then the instant I saw him come down the sidewalk with his usual, big and dopey yet somehow still handsome grin, something in me snapped. 

“Hi, Mayu!! What did you need? You said it was an emergency, so I came as soon as I could!” he said, eyes calm and sweet; his smile kind and warm.

Seeing him like this, my heart suddenly felt aflutter. My cheeks were flushing red, and I hadn’t the slightest clue why… no. That’s a lie. It was love, wasn’t it? I was in love with  _ him _ ? 

_ What do I say to him…? Do I tell him that I like him…? This charm of his, is it perchance why Tei likes him? He is rather bewitching in a way… _

“Len-kun,” I said, trying to mimic Tei’s manner of speaking.

Perhaps if I spoke like the girl he already loved, perhaps I would have his attention then?

He gave me a rather serious look and I suddenly felt my heart sink deep into my chest.

“ _ Kagamine-san _ ,” he corrected rather sternly.

I pouted and folded my arms angrily. That’s right. I’m not special enough to call him “Len-kun”... aka Tei is the only one who could ever be special enough. Oh, she’s “special” alright. She’s an unhinged lunatic.

“Kagamine-san,” I said, hushing my voice a bit and leaning in close, watching as his face turned red.

__ I slowly tried to wrap my arms around him, but he jerked back and slapped my arms away.

“Mayu, please. I don’t feel this way about you… and I’m dating Tei!!” he said urgently.

“But, Kagamine-san, I love you,” I confessed in the heat of the moment.

“Well, I — that’s lovely, Mayu, and I’m flattered, but I’ve already got Tei!”

I carefully inched up closer to him and wrapped my arms around his right arm, pressing my face up against his.

“Well then, why don’t you leave that old ball and chain so you can be with me?” I squealed, smooshing my cheek up against his.

“NO! I told you Tei is the one I love. Don’t try to act like she’s a burden to me — she makes my life a thousand times better!” he said.

This saga went on for quite a few minutes, consisting of me trying to get close and him attempting to dodge me. It all went on until I heard a meek voice hoarsely utter:

“Len... kun…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really enjoyed writing Mayu here and I think I've finally gotten the hang of how I want to portray her character!  
> Also, I started a Discord server! I'd love if you all would join and share your thoughts on the story! https://discord.gg/VtZG3t5
> 
> Question for next time: how do you think Tei will handle this situation?


	14. Left Broken Hearted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I tried to make this chapter angsty, but honestly, I don't think it's that angsty at all, haha. I can't write sad stuff. XD

"Len… kun…" I uttered meekly as I watched him and Mayu embrace.

My heart dropped to my stomach as I tried to convince myself I was misreading the situation. That's what happened with Len and Miku… I thought they were in love with each other, but they were just being friends who were happy about something for each other… but then… why does this feel different…?

My heart sank even further as my beloved Len-kun looked at me with a look of pure terror, like I'd caught him doing something he shouldn't be...

_Surely he wouldn't be cheating on me with Mayu? I should be rational here…_

"Oh my! I thought you'd said you had already broken up with Tei…" I heard Mayu say to him.

Len opened his mouth as if to protest, but I was going to have none of it. I trusted him… gave him all of my love, but then… he goes and cheats on me for this prissy little princess…

_What… does she have that I don't…?_

Every bone in my body told me that I wanted to lash out at Mayu for standing in the way of me and Len-kun having a happy relationship and being together, but the more rational side of me told me that it's not _her_ fault if Len-kun cheated on me for her…

I'll put it this way… they're lucky they're not dealing with the old Tei, because I would've let them both have it and then try to take Mayu out of the picture so I could have Len-kun all to myself. Quite frankly, I'd still like to do that, but then I'd probably just get labelled a "yandere" again and be treated like a criminal although I've done nothing.

"Tei, i-it's not what it looks like! Mayu—she just—"

I held my hand up and turned my head away.

"Just save it. I don't want your excuses… but if you didn't want to be with me, you could've at least had the decency to break up with me instead of leading me on and pretending you care about me. What? You just wanted me to help at the concert so you could special effects for free? You didn't really _care_ ABOUT ME?!"

My emotions just flew off the charts as I spoke. I was sad, I was angry, I was hurt… I didn't know what to do except let it out… if it meant being very vociferous about it, then so be it.

I'm sure no one thought the girl with the soft voice could get this angry, but here we are!

"No, Tei! That's not—"

"Save it. I don't want to hear it. Goodbye, Kagamine, and thanks for nothing," I said.

I yanked the ribbon out of my hair, undoing my ponytail and also yanked the ribbon untied from my shirt, then stormed away in both anger and sadness at what happened.

**.:Len's POV:.**

Seeing Tei hurt like that… it just wasn't right… all I want is for her to smile, for her to be happy… so knowing that Tei thinks I've cheated on her breaks my heart, for her sake. And, having her call me "Kagamine" instead of her usual adorable "Len-kun" really just… hurt _bad_.

Everything would've been fine, but Mayu had to get all lovey-dovey and weird all of a sudden, and… I dunno… what was I supposed to do in this situation? Argh. I need to make it up to her as soon as I can because… I don't wanna break up with Tei… I don't want her to break up with me.

But first, I have to deal with Mayu… ugh. Why do I have to deal with all the lunatics?

"Now that _she's_ out of the picture, you're mine."

Suddenly Mayu looked up at me with these cold, icy eyes. It was kinda… spooky to be honest. They were just devoid of their usual shine and… and there was one other time I can remember seeing eyes like this...

 _Tei's_. That one time she thought that I was in love with Miku… oh god. Oh god. Oh god, this is not good. If it's anything like what happened with Tei a while back, I'm gonna get wrapped up in something crazy.

I could only hope that Tei would realize something more was going on…

**.:Tei's POV:.**

I ran inside the house and slammed the door shut behind me, not even bothering to say hello to my brother and only going straight to my room only to slam that door shut as well. Of course, that warranted a concerned knock on the door from my brother.

"Hey, you seem kind of upset… do you want to talk about it…?" he said.

I just slouched up against the door in a tightly crouched together position, wanting to just sulk by myself.

"No," I muttered in response. "Go away."

I heard Teiru let out a sigh on the other side of the door.

"Well, if you need to talk, I'll be right here…" he said. "Just please, don't let your emotions fester too much, for your sake."

I appreciated his concern, but I was prepared to just spend the rest of my life in my room. I had books, all the tools I could ever need, and…

I looked around my room to see it was filled to the brim with Len merchandise that I now need to eradicate. Or well, not eradicate, but just remove from the premises.

But for now… I just wanted to cry. My heart was broken, I was betrayed… I thought I was the one he loved, but I guess deep down I was right. I never will be good enough for him. Of course he'd rather have the prissy princess over me… why would I mean anything to him?

_Maybe he really is the playboy everyone made him out to be… maybe he played me the whole time. I really am a fool._

I just broke down, sobbing alone in my room. I thought I actually meant something to someone; that my love for someone else was finally reciprocated… but perhaps I'm meant to just be alone forever. No one wants Tei to love them, I guess…

I mean, yeah, there's my brother and the rest of my family, but I guess I mean in terms of a romantic love interest. I have a lot of love I want to share, and it was really nice to have someone to finally share it with.

_Maybe… I should just give up on finding love. It's never worked out before, so why would it work out now?_

* * *

I spent days on end in my room, and rarely came out except to get food or something else I needed. I barely said a single word to my brother, I hadn't answered any of the calls from my friends, and although it was painful—I'd added Len to my blocked contacts. Adding him to my blocked contacts just really, really stung.

On top of that, it didn't help that I knew my brother was extremely concerned about me but I just ignored him and barely said two words to him… I was being a bit selfish, admittedly.

This went on until I got those messages that dragged me out of my sadness and forced me to look at the bigger picture.

_To: Tei_

_From: Teiru_

_Hey, sis. I know you're going through some things right now, and I want you to know again that I love you and if you need to talk to me or just need shoulder to cry on I'm here for you. I've been concerned for you, so I just wanted to let you know that we all love you._

Teiru… it meant so much to me to know I had such a caring older brother. I appreciated him being concerned and that he was so respectful of the fact I needed some space…

_To: Tei_

_From: Teto_

_Hey… I hadn't heard from you a while and you haven't responded to any of my messages or calls… please respond back to me. I'm worried about you!_

Poor Teto-chan. I'd made her worry about me, and it was selfish of me to have not at the very least been open to her about what's going on. I should have at least given her a small explanation or responded to her.

_To: Tei_

_From: Rin_

_Uh, hey. I know this is totally awkward because I guess something happened between u and Len, but uh, just know I say this as ur friend and not Len's sister:_

_I hope with whatever happened between u all that ur alright. Well ur obviously upset but ur a super cool friend and I want u to know that._

I could feel my eyes welling up at their messages. How could I have forgotten about my wonderful friends and family? I guess in my upset I'd forgotten about the people who love me in their own way; the very same people I also love.

For the first time in several days, I felt a smile creep on my face—and as if it were a scene from a movie, rays of sunshine began poking through my windows as if to tell me everything was okay now.

I lifted myself up off of my bed, did some stretching, and then finally texted my friends (and my brother) back…

_To: Teiru_

_From: Tei_

_Hey, bro! I wanna let you know that your message really helped cheer me up, so thanks. I'll be downstairs in just a minute!_

_To: Teto_

_From: Tei_

_Teto-channnnn! I am SO sorry I made you worry, and it was really mean of me to not at the very least text you back! Thank you for being my best friend!_

_To: Rin_

_From: Tei_

_Hi, Rin! Thanks for the text, you really made me feel a lot better._

I headed downstairs to go talk to my brother and have breakfast, feeling like I finally had some peace of mind… but something in the back of my mind told me this wouldn't last… that there was trouble brewing somewhere else.

"Hey, bro!" I said, coming down the stairs with a smile.

Teiru looked up at me to return the smile, smiling brightly himself.

"It's nice to see my little sister so happy again. It always saddens me to see you upset," he said thoughtfully.

I tossed him a thoughtful look in response. "Thanks, bro."

"Of course. And, if you're hungry, there's some breakfast for you over on the countertop," Teiru said.

I walked over to the countertop, grabbed my breakfast, and then took a seat feeling relaxed.

Though, my relaxation didn't last for long. The instant I sat at the table, my phone began ringing. Seems perfectly normal, right? Well, little did I realize where things were about to go…

_Rin's calling… I wonder what she wants… probably wants to check in on me…_

"Hello?" I said, calmly answering the phone.

And that's when things suddenly went south...


	15. DeTEIctive Sukone and the Mystery of the Missing Banana Boy

“Hey, Tei…” Rin’s voice came from over the phone.

Something about the way she said that… it didn’t feel quite right… that was not the normal “hell yeah! What’s up bestie?” tone I’m used to from her. It was uncharacteristically serious.

“Hi, Rin…?” I said, trying to hide my nervousness. 

_Surely I’m reading too much into this. Surely this is a normal call…_

“Yo, so, uh… I know he’s the last thing you wanna hear about, but Len’s been acting kinda out of character for himself lately and I’m kinda concerned…”

As if he could pick up on my feelings, Teiru perked up in an instant.

“Something wrong, Scottei? What’s Rin saying?” he asked.

I placed my hand over the phone for a minute and whispered to Teiru.

“Apparently Len has been acting odd lately… now I’m concerned something may have happened and _that’s_ why he acted how he did the other day…”

Teiru pursed his lips as if in thought for a moment. “I guess ask Rin for more information.”

I nodded and removed my hand from over top of the phone.

“Strange how? I haven’t spoken to him since the other day,” I said to Rin.

“Well, he’s been awfully jumpy and not his usual ‘waaa Rin you scared me’ jumpiness. Like he’s hiding something or doesn’t know what I’m talking about…” she said, voice shaky. “He won’t talk to me either, hasn’t said two words about bananas or anything. It’s like he’s a different person… literally.”

That… sounded odd. I mean, he _could_ be ashamed he cheated on me, but even so I couldn’t imagine him acting so odd. He, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, is too oblivious to just deliberately ignore someone.

“Huh… maybe I could come over to your place and see what’s up? I don’t think I could really judge without seeing for myself,” I said.

“Yeah, sure. I don’t think our parents would mind, and I’m sure the Len-expert—that would be you—would surely figure out something!” Rin said.

I chuckled lightly in spite of the rather odd situation. “Len-expert”... that was definitely a fitting title for me.

“I’ll be there shortly,” I told her, and with that I hung up the phone.

“So what’s up?” Teiru asked. “What’s the deal with Len?”

“We don’t know. I’m going over to her house to investigate. Apparently he’s not talking much to Rin which is extremely uncharacteristic of him,” I explained. “He’s never straight-up ignored someone to my knowledge.”

Teiru tossed me a puzzled expression. “Well, perhaps something is going on with him that would explain his behavior from the other day. After everything you two have been through together, I can’t imagine he’d cheat on you. Didn’t you say you had suspicions about Mayu anyways...?” Teiru gave me a rather knowing look and then that’s when things clicked.

Obviously, just suspicions weren’t enough to go off of, but if I was suspicious about Mayu then how could I have possibly suspected him of cheating on me… perhaps she framed him? That’s what I’d like to believe, but I need to think rationally.

“You’re right. And I’m going to get to the bottom of this!” I said.

With a bout of renewed confidence, I made my way over to Rin’s house in hopes of finding something that would clear up this mess.

* * *

**Later that day…**

I walked into Rin’s house in full detective mode (or deTEIctive, if you will), prepared to crack this case wide open. Rin and I met up in her room, speaking only on paper (which would later be thrown in a shredder) in case anyone (especially Len) was listening.

I gave her a quick rundown of all my suspicions and what happened.

A couple weeks back, we met Mayu for the first time where she behaved slightly off, especially when I asked her for her name. Not much of a development; she could’ve just been nervous, so I asked if she wanted to hangout. That’s when she started acting weird about the whole “yandere” thing, and how if she met a “boy as cute as Len” she’d have to chase his girlfriend away…

Then, when Len and I were on our anniversary date, I could’ve sworn she was watching us from an alleyway. Kinda weird, borderline stalker-ish, but I threw her a bone on that one given I wasn’t sure if it was actually her. 

After that was the time we all met up together and she acted pretty odd around me.

Following that was the time we were with Piko when he asked Mayu if she wanted to hangout. She seemed pretty disgusted that I was there. 

After that… I don’t know. She pretty much stopped with anything weird after that. Well, aside from when I saw her with Len the other day…

_So do you think Mayu did something with/to Len?_ Rin wrote.

_Hard to say. Can’t go around pointing fingers, but given what she said to me that one time she’s definitely a suspect,_ I wrote in response.

_So, do we take “Len” in for “questioning”?_ Rin replied.

_Yeah. Permission to go full angry Tei mode?_ I asked.

_Sounds dangerous, but permission granted. Let’s do this good-cop, bad-cop style,_ she wrote. _I’m good cop, you’re bad cop._

* * *

We went downstairs to go question “Len” and our developments were quite interesting to say the least.

I marched up to “Len”, grabbed his collar, and then shook him semi-violently back and forth.

“WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT’D YOU DO WITH THE REAL LEN??? HUH?” I snarled.

“Wh-what? Uh… I am the ‘real’ Len…” he protested.

That’s when Rin waltzed up and played her role as the good cop.

“Hey, c’mon, bro. You’ve just been acting weird lately and we just wanna know what’s up. This is a safe place,” she said.

Then he went mute. Not another word, just awkward silence. Definitely not normal Len behavior.

“Alright. So if you’re really Len, tell me something that only Len would know,” I said.

Once again, silence. But this silence wasn’t an “I’m ignoring you” silence. Judging by the look on his face, he was at a loss. There wasn’t anything this “Len” knew that the real Len would know. 

The problem is, although he’s clearly not Len, he sure looks like Len. There’s no plausible explanation for why this guy looks like Len. It’s not like I ever cloned him… even if I _did_ consider it at multiple points. (I mean, hey, can’t blame me for wanting more than one Len. What’s better than one Len? One million Lens! Okay, maybe not a million, but still, having a bunch of Len’s would be fun!)

So… we’re at a dead-end unless we can get this Len fake to answer us. But… how are we supposed to get answers out of him if he refuses to give us any information…? well, then this called for extra measures.

I grabbed the Len fake by his collar and pinned him against the wall.

“Alright, punk. Who the hell are you and what the fuck have you done with _my_ Len-kun?” I snarled at the fake. “If you don’t answer, things are gonna get real nasty for you.”

I raised a fist and looked the faker dead in the eyes.

“I-I, I don’t know! I’m just a clone, okay?! I’m not the real Len! I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing except impersonate him! Now let me go, you psycho!” he shouted.

“Thank god our parents aren’t home. They’d be really concerned if they heard Len’s voice say that,” Rin said.

“Yeah, really,” I agreed.

“So, punk,” I said, turning my attention back to the Len fake. “Where’s the real Len? Who’s the fucker behind this?”

“I can’t say,” the fake protested.

“Why not?!” I growled.

“I literally can’t say. She put some kinda spell on me,” the fake explained.

_She_ … this was an interesting development. But who was this “she”? I highly doubt Mayu could use magic; she’s shown no signs of being able to use it and I doubt she can hide things _that_ well.

“Alright, bastard. We’re taking you to the cops. You got any more information?” 

I folded my arms and gave the fake another stern look, which only earned me a head shake “no” in response. Seems we weren’t going to get answers very easily which meant more investigating for me and Rin to do.

* * *

We took the clone into the police station and ended up being thanked but also taken in for questioning. Apparently they were solving a large case linked to this clone but were trying to keep it under wraps.

We weren’t told much, but what we did find out was rather beneficial. There’s a paranormal investigation squad, apparently, and they’ve been helping the police investigate a mysterious case related to a couple of rumored magic users, one of them supposedly wielding dark magic. I… really don’t know anything about magic outside of RPGs, and video games and stuff like that. Fuck, I didn’t even know there were people who could actually _use_ magic. I always thought it was just some old maid’s tale.

“So, like, you guys got any leads? Like suspects or stuff like that?” Rin asked.

“We can’t say. The only information we can provide you is that the suspects are dangerous and at large. Kids like you need to stay out of this,” their head detective explained.

“But—” Rin protested.

“Especially given you’re close to Kagamine. We wouldn’t want the people involved to begin targeting you as well,” they added. “We’ve gone ahead and called your parents to come pick you up, and I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to ask you to remain indoors for a while.”

“What?! You want us to just sit idly by while Len-kun could be in danger?!” I shouted, slamming my hands on the table.

What the fuck?! How am I supposed to just sit around knowing Len is in danger? He’s missing and we’ve got no clue where the fuck he is or what the hell he might be going through.

And if Mayu’s fucking behind this I swear when I get my hands on her… she better sleep with one damn eye open at night.

_Mayu… if you did something to Len-kun, I’m coming for you and I’m not holding back._ I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth at the thought. 

“So, may I ask you when the last time either of you saw the real Len was?” the detective asked.

“Why should I tell you when you can’t tell us anything?!” I shouted, slamming my hands on the table.

Rin placed her hand on my shoulder and gave me a concerned look.

“Tei, I know you’re angry, but giving them the information they’re looking for is our best bet right now. Come on,” Rin said.

I sighed, knowing she had a point—even if I didn’t want to admit it, relying on the professionals was our best bet, rather than two teenagers trying to solve things themselves. Playing the waiting game really just sucks, though. Ughhh. I’d much rather track Len-kun down myself, but that could interfere with the investigation.

“Ugh, fine…” I sighed.

“The last time I saw him was about… a week ago? I’ve been at home for several days and I’ve kinda lost track of the time, so I can’t say for certain…” I explained. “It was downtown, near the ice cream shop.” 

The detective pursed his lips as if in thought.

“Hmm… well, that does seem to add up with the other witness accounts. Was he by any chance with someone else? So far all the witness accounts say the same thing: he was with a girl wearing a lolita style dress who had caramel colored hair with multi-colored streaks.”

That's when my blood began to boil. I only knew one damn girl with that appearance. Her bitchass name? Mayu. Hoo, boy. That girl was gonna have some real trouble when I find out where the fuck she’s hiding with Len-kun.

“Yeah. And I know the girl’s name, too. Her name's Mayu,” I said.

_And she’s a fucking jealous lunatic,_ I added silently.

“Thank you. And is there anything else we should know?” the detective asked.

“Don’t think so,” I muttered.

“How about you, miss?” he said, turning to Rin.

“Ehhh. All I know is that he just showed up at home acting weird and ignoring me, but I was just like ‘bruh what the fuck’ and went on with my day. Then I called Tei because I was bored,” Rin explained.

Bored? She literally just called me because she was _bored_ ? Rin, what the actual hell? Does the child have no concern for her brother? Does her brother normally disappear or… or what…? Also the fact she cursed in front of the detective… not even _I’m_ that impudent. Rin is certainly a hellraiser, that’s for sure.

“But… I do know that Mayu really seems to hate Tei for some reason. Don’t even know why, she just does,” Rin explained. “Maybe she kidnapped Len to hurt Tei. I dunno. But I think it’s definitely weird that he disappeared right after Mayu probably framed him for cheating.” 

“Mmm.. yeah. That’s certainly suspicious,” the detective muttered in agreement. “Do you have her contact info, or know anything about where she lives? Have you ever met her parents or family members?”

“Can’t say I have,” I answered. “What about you, Rin?’

“Oh, I know some of that. I’ve got her phone number, and I do know that she lives in the Vocaloid mansion. Never seen her parents, but her cousin is that Oliver kid — he lives in the Vocaloid mansion, too,” Rin said.

“I see. Mind giving me her phone number?” the detective asked, sliding a piece of notebook paper and a pen over to Rin.

Rin proceeded to write out Mayu’s phone number and then handed the paper back to the detective. 

“Thank you kindly. We’ll be sure to contact you if we need any further assistance. Take care now, and be careful!” the detective said.

We nodded in thanks and left the police station, filled with uncertainty. We didn’t know how long it’d be until they’d find Len or if they’d even be able to find them at all. On top of that, they expected us to just sit around inside while they investigated.

“Screw this....” Rin muttered. “Let’s just find him ourselves.”

I averted eye contact and looked at the ground as I walked. I really wanted to find Len, and I definitely didn’t wanna wait but… I also didn’t want to risk jeopardizing the police’s investigation and ruin our chances of finding Len-kun…

If only I had gone with my gut instead of trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. Now Len-kun was probably in all kinds of trouble and it’s probably my fault. Damn it! I feel so useless!!

That damn Mayu… trying to steal Len-kun away. Len-kun is a blessing to the entire world and shouldn’t be for only one person. (I mean, even if I’d love to have all of his attention focused on me 24/7, it’s still not right. The world deserves to experience Len-kun’s greatness.)

“So Tei… you wanna help me get my brother back?” Rin tossed me an expectant glance.

I pursed my lips and mulled over my options and potential results for a moment. On one hand, we may be able to find him faster than the professionals, but on the other hand we may ruin our chances of finding him…

Either one was a risk, but I was ready to take matters into my own hands. The person of probably the most importance to me was in trouble and we needed to find him. 

“I’m in. Let’s do this,” I said, matching her gaze.


	16. The Mystery of the Missing Banana Boy

Rin and I spent all day going around town and questioning people, asking if they've seen Len or Mayu anywhere. So far, no dice. No leads, nothing. God, this was so frustrating! How the hell are we supposed to find him if we can't find any leads?

"I don't know, Rin… we've had no luck at all… either no one knows Mayu or is aware of the situation but doesn't have any real information," I said, feeling exasperated.

"Yeah… I hadn't noticed," she said with irritated sarcasm.

Seems like we were both stuck between a rock and a hard place here, especially given we're basically the two closest people to Len. Damn, why did he have to be so darn adorable to the point where he attracts the crazies? I feel bad for the poor thing. Well, I guess it's inevitable when you're famous, I suppose…

_Len-kun, I just hope you're safe…  
_

I gazed at my surroundings, feeling lost and hopeless. How the actual fuck were we going to find him if we couldn't find any actual information on where the fuck he could be…?

And suddenly, as if right on cue, a gruff voice came out of seemingly nowhere and spoke directly to Rin.

"Hey blondie," the guy said.

_Great. Am I gonna have to beat up some fucking creep today? As if I really needed to put up with that._

I marched over to the guy, rolled up my sleeves, and readied my fist. Punk was about to mess with the wrong damn person, that's for sure. By time I was done, he was gonna run home crying to his mommy.

But, right as I was about to give this guy, Rin's voice spoke up.

"Dave!" she chirped.

 _Dave?_ I thought to myself.

That had to be the most bland, basic sounding name I'd heard since moving here. It's not because it was foreign by any means, but we really didn't have any names like that? Most of the native English speakers (of the Vocaloids and UTAU) had more uncommon names.

_Who the fuck is this guy and why does Rin know him?_

"Nice to see ya, ya 'not suspicious' dealer," this 'Dave' said.

Leave it to Rin to be involved with sketchy people. I somehow had forgotten about her "not suspicious" "business". Makes me wonder what other unsavory sorts she knows…

"So, yer lookin for yer brother, yeh?" Dave said.

"Yeah. We think he's been kidnapped by some little shit named 'Mayu'," Rin explained. "Know anything about her?"

"Mayu, eh?" He replies gruffly. "Yeah. Word on the street is she's kind of a lunatic; she talks as if speaking to another person, and supposedly she kidnapped yer brother."

"So she IS behind this!" I exclaimed, pounding my fist into my palm in anger.

I just _knew_ she was trouble from day one. If only I had gone with my gut, then maybe Len-kun wouldn't be in danger right now.

"So you got a clue where she is?" I asked.

Dave nodded. "Ye. Old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town is what I've heard. I take it you probably know how to get there, don'cha?" he looked me directly in the eyes.

Yes, Dave. I know what you're insinuating here. Yeah, I know where the warehouse is. No, I don't give two fucks what you think of me. You're probably scum anyways—no shade to Rin, but if you work with her and help with her "business" you're probably sketchy as fuck.

"So, that's where you think we'll find her?" Rin said, perking up.

"Sure do. Just make sure you're prepared for a confrontation. Somethin' tells me she ain't goin' down without a fight," Dave warned.

Oh, _she_ wasn't going down without a fight? No, no, no. _I_ was not gonna go down without a fight. If she wanted Len, she was gonna have to take me down kicking and screaming. I don't expect her to actually be able to fight me, being the little twig that she is. I've had proper fight and self-defense training from my mom who's in law enforcement; in other words I could kick her ass any time, any day.

Rin looked at me with a look of pure mischief on her face.

"You ready to kick ass and take some names?" she said.

"Don't you know it?" I said affirmatively, returning the smirk.

Mayu just messed with the wrong duo, that's for sure…

* * *

**.:Teiru's POV:.**

I've known my sister long enough to know that if she's angry, it's never just that she's in a bad mood. No, there is no one type of angry when it comes to my sister, and this time it seems this was the "I'm really mad because something happened to Len and I am going to go kick someone's rear" angry.

This meant that I had to make her see reason before she does something completely rash.

I caught her as she marched up the stairs.

"Teiru, where can I find brass knuckles on short notice? No reason. Just need to know," she growled, face wrenched in irritation and disgust.

 _Oh, good lord, no…_ I thought to myself.

My sister never had the best track record when it comes to er… peacefully resolving conflicts. While we hadn't had any issues with her starting fights recently (barring when she "captured" the vocaloids out of sheer pettiness), so the thought of her engaging someone in a fight once again made me extremely concerned.

Not that I didn't think my sister could handle herself in a fight—the opposite, actually. I'm more concerned about what _she_ would do to _them_. Her raw strength is nothing to sneeze at—I have actually seen her take on five opponents at once. That charming and innocent looking appearance hides a girl with ridiculous strength and drive.

"Scottei, please calm down. You don't tend to resolve your issues peacefully, and I am not going to enable you. You could get _arrested_ ," I said, attempting in vain to make my sister see reason.

She shot me a look of pure fury and for a brief moment I was mildly concerned she might throw hands with me.

"But Mayu's kidnapped my Len-kun and she's probably holding him hostage or some shit like that. You want me to standby and let her get away with it?!" She snarled, voice filled with disgust and hatred.

I sighed, knowing full well she had a point… however, that was something best left to the proper authorities and not an immature teenager with awful mood swings. (I mean absolutely no offense to my sister when I say this, but it _is_ the truth.)

"No," I responded, "I'm simply asking you to resolve your problems without violence. I'm not looking to have my sister get arrested and I don't want that on your record."

She just rolled her eyes at me dismissively.

"Well, maybe I don't _care_ about my record," she retorted.

Of course she didn't. She never cared about that sort of thing—unfortunately my sister seems to think that she doesn't have to deal with the consequences of her actions… a criminal record would look bad on her, plus her getting arrested would probably lead to her being kicked from Waseda… not to mention that'd reflect badly on poor Len…

Ah, that's it! Perhaps if I simply brought Len imo the picture, surely she'd see some sort of reason.

"Well, how do you think it would reflect on Len if you, his girlfriend, ended up arrested and developed a criminal record? How do you think it'd affect him if word got out that you were arrested?"

"But, Rin's his sister and—"

"Yes, but think about some of the people Rin is involved with, and think about the regard she shows her brother when she engages in her criminal activities. Is that really how to want to treat the person who means so much to you…?"

Tei paused for a moment, lowered her head, and pouted.

"That's… a good point. I guess I wouldn't want to damage Len-kun's reputation…" she sighed, finally seeing reason.

"Right. So I hope you'll resolve the issue peacefully," I said. "Now that being said, if push comes to shove and whoever you're up against attacks you first… by all means defend yourself because I don't want my little sister getting hurt, either. Stay safe, alright?"

She tossed me the warmest smile I'd probably seen her give me in ages.

"I will," she said thoughtfully, before continuing up the stairs in a more calm fashion.

I closed my eyes and smiled to myself.

 _Go save that kid,_ I encouraged her silently.


	17. A Rescue Mission

At the stroke of midnight, Rin and I left our houses to launch a midnight raid on Mayu. We probably should have done more research since we don’t know what Mayu is capable of, but surely she isn’t capable of anything truly threatening.

Though, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a _little_ scared what we might get into. Hopefully nothing too awful, but given Mayu’s personal vendetta against me—who knows? Well, I’m exaggerating a bit by saying she has a vendetta against me, but my point still stands.

“Time to kick some ass,” Rin said, pounding her first into her palm as we approached the warehouse.

“Remember, let’s try _not_ to get violent about things… but if she hurts Len-kun I will eviscerate her,” I said, trying to bite back my anger.

“Oh, hell yeah. I will kick her fucking ass if she hurts my brother,” Rin agreed.

We stealthily approached the warehouse, exercising the utmost caution—though, something told me no amount of caution would ever be enough.

**.:Mayu’s POV:.**

“Well, would you look at that? The lovesick fool managed to track you down after all~” I said, turning to face the captive boy.

“Of course she would. You should have known that she would find me,” Len said, looking me dead in the eyes. “Also, I don’t think _she’s_ the lovesick one around here. Tei is an angel.”

Ugh. That freak? An angel? They’re both _so_ disgusting—I can’t stand their foolishness.

“Well, your weak little girlfriend had better watch out. We’ve already got plans for how to deal with her,” I spat.

His eyes went wide with horror.

“You’re not going to hurt her, are you?!” He said, voice full of panic.

“Oh, but of course not~!” I said, changing to a sugary sweet tone. “No. If she tries anything funny, Merli is going to cast a spell on her to send her into a universe of her dreams~ she’ll never want to come back here after being somewhere she’s loved and accepted.”

“But, of course she would, she—”

“Why would she come back here when she could live out all of her ultimate fantasies and dreams? One where she could be treated like the princess she oh-so desires to be.”

“But Tei would realize she’s happier with her _real_ friends!”

I waltzed over to him and squeezed his cheeks. “We shall see about that.”

* * *

**.:Tei’s POV:.**

Rin and I cautiously made our way into the warehouse, hoping that Mayu wouldn’t see us. Things seemed alright so far, at least, but it was still incredibly unnerving—knowing that any second she could strike us from anywhere…

Something about the atmosphere was very eerie, making my skin crawl. It was just slightly damp around probably due to rain from last night, and the air was chilly. Didn’t help there was a slight breeze, making us even colder.

“So, where do you think Mayu is hiding Len-kun?” I wondered aloud.

“Dunno. Maybe in that room you tried to lock everyone in…?”

“Yeah, mayb—WAUGH—”

I suddenly found myself pinned to the ground unable to move, but I couldn’t see who my opponent was. It was all misty out and not to mention whoever pinned me down had effectively made it difficult for me to move my head. 

They were right on top of my back, and had both my arms pulled back behind me as well as having my neck in a vice grip—effectively rendering me helpless.

“Tei!” Rin shrieked, running over as if to help me.

She couldn’t help me, though. Since she was the only one still mobile, she needed to get to Len and rescue him since I was out of commission.

“Rin! Go on without me—go find Len-kun and get him out of here!”

“No way! I can’t just _leave_ you—you’re my friend, and we’re a _team_!” She protested.

And almost immediately after I felt like a weight had been lifted—literally, I could actually _move_ now, so Rin must have taken out our opponent. 

Perfect. Seems we were going to have a fight… Teiru wanted me to resolve things peacefully, but it seems push has come to shove. I’m still going to try my best to avoid conflict, but…

In the brief few moments I had while my opponent was out of sorts, I reached into my boot where I had been hiding a knife. One of my most well kept secrets is that I keep a concealed knife in my boots—and it’s a secret for two reasons. One: if someone knows I have means of self-defense, I lose the element of surprise in the event something happens. And two: everyone would just call me a psycho yandere for having one even though it’s exclusively for self-defense. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being me.

“Oh, dang. You brought a knife—you got something I can borrow to defend myself with?” Rin asked, eyes darting around as she kept watch on our opponent.

I nodded and removed the brass knuckles I’d been wearing under my sleeves and handed them to Rin.

“Sweet. Now I can kick some ass!” Rin said, putting on the brass knuckles and breaking into a somewhat concerning mischievous grin.

Honestly, I don’t think giving those to Rin was a good idea—she’s an absolute hell raiser, but hey, we don’t know what we’re up against so might as well give her an extra means of self-defense.

That being said, this was going to be a bit of a challenge given we’re fighting in the dark with little to no light. I mean, how are we supposed to properly fight and/or escape an opponent we can’t actually see?? Plus, it seems our enemy was likely wearing dark clothes because they were very hard to see.

_Ugh. I knew I should have brought my night vision goggles…_

The best thing I could do is rely on my ears because by the sound of their footsteps whoever we were up against was wearing… heels? An odd choice for combat, that’s for sure. I’d be lying if I said playing this waiting game didn’t make my skin crawl.

I just stood ready and waiting for my opponent to make a move, and then as soon as they came in close, I took a nice swipe at them with my knife—nothing that would be severe, but enough to at least make them flinch.

“My hair!!!” They shrieked.

_Wait a damn minute. I know that voice—_

“Tei, let’s go! No time to waste!” Rin said, grabbing me by the arm and breaking into a run.

She was right—Mayu, or at least I assume that was Mayu, will probably be back on her feet any moment now. Rescuing Len-kun was our top priority, even if I’d _love_ to give Mayu a piece of my mind.

After stepping in a lot of mud, old oil, and other nastiness, we finally found the entrance. I yanked open the doors and we carefully made our way in, so as to not cause a fuss—a plan that immediately went down the drain the instant Len-kun spotted us.

“You guys! I can’t believe you found me!!” He said, overjoyed.

Len-kun, sweetie, I love you and I’m glad we found you, too—but for goodness sake, you couldn’t have waited until we made it out of here with you to get all happy??

I urgently held a finger up to my lip to silently tell him to shush.

He blushed sheepishly and fell silent. Haaaa… he’s so cute when he’s all sheepish and bashful. AH—but that’s besides the point.

_Gosh darn it, Tei! Don’t get distracted by how cute he is._ I scolded myself mentally.

As much as I wanted to fawn and gush over how cute Len-kun is, now was not the time for that. We had to recuse him first and _then_ I can gush over how darn precious he is.

We made our way to where Len was being held—a small cell nearby us. We could make it there if we just made a break for it!!

“Rin, I think we can make it if we just run for it, and we can have him out of here in no time!

“I dunno… don’t you think you’re being a _li’l_ hasty?”

“Come on! I’m a master of stealth, so we should be fine!” 

And like a dumbass, I just rushed out without even thinking. So much for being a master of stealth…

  
I heard Len call out in a high-pitched shriek and felt my blood run cold as I was blinded by a sudden flash of light.


End file.
